This is the weekend when all of the youth who attended the National Your Gathering in Houston are supposed to help with church services. Just four days after the group returned home from their 30 hour round trip bus trip, as many as four of the 30 who traveled together were fighting throat infections. And while the symptoms originally presented themselves as nothing more than allergies, it turns out that three of the four had already been to the doctor to confirm that the problem was throat infections, not simple allergies.
With a shot of steroids, the pastor who traveled with the group indicated that he was on the mend, but he advised all of the parents to pay close attention to any of the high school students who were showing symptoms of throat infections, sinus infections, or other cold and allergy events.
Summer Cold Symptoms Are Often Masked by Allergy Season
Although many people equate sinus and throat infections with winter, the fact of the matter is that there are still many people who fight these health conditions in the summer as well. In fact, summer colds and infections can often be even more frustrating because of accompanying allergy symptoms. Knowing when to go to the doctor is important because an infection can be even worse than it needs to be if it is not treated soon enough.
Consider some of these statistics about colds, allergies, and infections:
- Nasal allergies affect about 50 million people in the U.S., according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.
- Every year chronic sinusitis results in an estimated 18 million to 22 million physician office visits.
- As one of the most common health problems in the U.S., Sinusitis affects 37 million people every year.
- Allergic rhinitis affects 6.1 million U.S. children and 20 million U.S. adults.
- 20% of chronic sinusitis patients are not successfully treated with medical therapy, including antibiotics and steroids. When these methods are not successful, a doctor may recommend sinus surgery.
If your summer time is miserable because you are not feeling well, it might be in your best interest to visit a physician to see if the allergies that you think you are suffering are really an infection that might need medical attention.
