John RossI was today years old when I learned that there may be a relationship between pollen counts and viral respiratory infections. Pollen impairs the immune response to viruses, and viruses may also be able to hitchhike deep into the airways on pollen grains. High pollen concentrations in March 2020 may have facilitated the spread of COVID during the first pandemic wave 🤧 
Kat@johnrossmd @wordshaper what the heck! i’m guessing allergy medication helps with the former (and people with less hay fever are at lower risk), but for the second it’s a physical mechanism and thus unrelated to the presence of an allergic reaction?
@kat @wordshaper I think you're right about the physical mechanism thing, but I'm not sure whether allergy medicine would affect the former. Pollen grains directly inhibit interferon responses to viruses. Allergy medicines block histamine that is produced in response to pollen, but they *probably* wouldn't reverse the interferon piece.
Dan Sugalski@johnrossmd @kat This quote from the beginning of the article "Coexposure to airborne pollen enhances susceptibility to respiratory viral infections, regardless of the allergy status." is interesting, and something I didn't know.
One more reason to wear a mask outside in the spring, I guess. (And here I was mostly doing it because hayfever sucks)