Allergy season is starting up, and some side effects of allergies are nose issues, like stuffy or runny noses, headaches, and irritated eyes. The nurses, Ms. Cassie Kocsis and Ms. Marissa Metalik, have been working together for about a year each.

Ms. Marissa has been working at Freedom for just about a year and a half, and said that she thinks it affects schooltime when kids come to the nurse with allergy issues. She said she’s able to give some medicine options to help, and that there are EpiPens for students with more severe allergies, like peanuts.

Ms. Cassie stated that she’s always liked kids, and has wanted to work with them, and she had enjoyed helping people, and settled on being a school nurse.

“I think [students] either think they’re getting a cold, and allergies just suck,” Ms. Cassie, Licensed Professional Nurse (LPN), said.

A main cause of allergies is weather, pollen messing with people’s sinuses, and causing irritation. Some animal allergies, like cats and dogs, can go from just hives if scratched or a small amount of sneezing, to not being able to breathe and struggling to see because of swelling.

Animal allergies aren’t the only allergies that aren’t seasonal. There are also food allergies, latex allergies, medication allergies, environmental allergies, and insect allergies. Food allergies are normally some of the more severe allergies, causing anaphylaxis, which is a really bad type of allergic reaction, and is life-threatening. EpiPens are required to stop the reaction, though EpiPens don’t last forever, and you still need to go to the hospital if you have an allergic reaction.

Food allergies can range from some of the most common things, like cinnamon or peanuts, all the way to odd fruits like lychee or kiwi. Some latex allergies affect what you can eat, such as bananas, kiwis, avocados, mangoes, papayas, and passion fruit, and eating these can cause throat irritation, or swelling of the lips and mouth, it could even cause anaphylaxis if you have a latex allergy.