The worst COVID-19 symptoms remind me of severe allergic reaction UPDATED 3X

UPDATE 5:30 PM April 9

More from the physician re severe immune system reactions to COVID-19
UPDATE 1:05 PM April 9
See Haywire Immune Response Eyed In Coronavirus Deaths, Treatment; April 9;  The Wall Street Journal

I'll have more in my next post.   

UPDATE April 8
This comment is from a physician I asked to read my post -- after I published it: 

"You misread the essay [abstract]. That is ridiculous. Every single person in respiratory failure is getting beta-agonists both before and while on the ventilator.  That’s one of the many things we do before deciding to begin ventilator treatment." 

My reply:

Ah so. Thank you!  So -- no chance that the most severe COVID-19 symptoms in younger people without serious health issues is a severe allergic reaction.  Well, another bright idea for the circular file. 

I should have run my idea by you before I published. Now I will have to eat crow for my readers rather than simply deleting the essay because what I wrote is so misleading. 

END UPDATE (There may be more updates to this post.)

Cold or flu symptoms can mimic many symptoms of an allergy, but is it possible to be allergic to a virus? If I've correctly read the abstract from a study published in 2011, it looks as if the answer would be yes -- or so close to a yes that medical intervention to treat a severe allergy might be tried with those who exhibit severe symptoms associated with COVID-19 infection. 

See "Airway allergy and viral infection," published in 2011 by the Asian-Pacific Journal of Allergy and Immunology and available for free from the U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health. 

As to whether an allergic reaction can touch off fever, there is an indirect route. From Healthline's article, Is Fever a Symptom of Allergies?

But can allergies cause a fever? Generally, no. Sometimes, however, allergy symptoms can make you vulnerable to a bacterial or viral infection. And a bacterial or viral infection can lead to a fever, so you can indirectly blame the fever on your allergy.

Healthline also explains --

When an allergic reaction is so severe that your breathing is jeopardized and you lose consciousness or are at risk of losing consciousness, it’s called anaphylaxis. Anaphylaxis is a medical emergency that requires immediate medical attention.

The treatment for anaphylaxis, from Healthline's article about it:

At the hospital, people with anaphylaxis are given adrenaline, the common name for epinephrine --  medication to minimize the reaction. ... In addition, you may receive oxygen, cortisone, an antihistamine, or a fast-acting beta-agonist inhaler.

Here is Healthline's list of symptoms associated with anaphylaxis:

• mental confusion

• throat swelling

• weakness or dizziness

• blue skin

• rapid or abnormal heart rate

• facial swelling

• hives

• low blood pressure

• wheezing

Also from the article:

... in the case of anaphylaxis, the immune system overreacts in a way that causes a full-body allergic reaction. ...... Some people may go into anaphylactic shock. It’s also possible to stop breathing or experience airway blockage due to the inflammation of the airways.

Sometimes, it can cause a heart attack. 

Hives and facial/throat swelling are, I think, symptoms commonly associated with an allergic reaction to an ingested substance or a insect sting, so they wouldn't apply to any allergic reaction to the COVID-19 virus. But the rest of the symptoms listed by Healthline are suggestive of the immune system's reaction to the virus. 

Here is a list of the most severe COVID-19 symptoms from a Houston Methodist Hospital article:

Serious symptoms of COVID-19 include:

• Severe shortness of breath

• Low blood pressure

• Elevated heart rate (above 100 bpm)

• Dehydration

• Profound weakness

• High fever

Blue lips/facial skin are also signs of severe COVID-19 symptoms -- of course, if the person is having trouble breathing. And the elevated heart-rate symptom, if untreated, can lead to heart failure, stroke, or cardiac arrest -- a 'heart attack,' as the Healthline list terms it.  

But I think most suggestive of all is that for some who are infected with COVID-19, their immune system goes crazy fighting the virus, which is exactly what happens with the most severe allergic reactions, both of which are life-threatening. It looks to me as if it could be the same situation, only that physicians do not associate the symptoms of COVID-19 infection with an allergic reaction.

I'm not a physician but sometimes I follow the Quacks Like school of reasoning: If it looks like something, and it quacks like something, maybe that's what it is.

Might be worth a shot, especially when you consider that a "fast-acting beta-agonist inhaler " would be much easier on the patient than a ventilator.  

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