Immune to the Itch: Why Some People Escape Allergy Season

Anyone who’s lived in Houston long enough knows that spring can be a mixed blessing—beautiful blooms on one hand, and, on the other, a seemingly endless parade of sneezing and sore throats. This year, though, seems to have hit a whole new level of misery. It almost feels impossible to walk from your door to your car without feeling a prickly irritation in the nose. For those who suffer through the yearly struggle of pollinating trees, one thing is certain this spring: these allergies are brutal.

While some have been bracing for the worst—stocking up on tissues, nasal sprays, and their go-to over-the-counter meds—not everyone’s nasal passages feel under siege. But why is that? Why do some people spend the season sniffling nonstop while others seem totally unbothered, happily breathing in the same pollen-laced air?

The answer, it turns out, lies in a messy combination of immune system development, environmental exposure, and genetics. According to Dr. Doanh Nguyen, an allergist and immunologist with Texas Allergy Group, it’s not just about where you live now, but also where you’ve been, how your body was trained to handle the world, and even how your gut bacteria were shaped as a child.

“The younger population has more allergy problems, because likely our children’s gut microbiomes are not as diverse as the previous generation,” Nguyen says, explaining that less microbial exposure in early life may leave the immune system more prone to reacting to harmless substances like pollen.

Migration plays a role, too, Nguyen points out. People who move to Houston from tropical areas or places with fewer pollinating trees often develop allergies more quickly and more severely. It’s like their immune systems weren’t prepared for the botanical onslaught of Houston springtime.

“A Scot or German living in Houston... doesn’t develop systemic inflammation of allergy symptoms as fast as populations who migrated from, say, Cuba, Venezuela, [or] Vietnam,” Nguyen says.

Chidinma Onwuchuluba can relate. She moved to Houston from Nigeria in 2021 and only recently found herself dealing with allergy symptoms—something she never experienced growing up. She realized her body was reacting differently in this environment. She had sneezed a bit last year. Those sneezes have now grown more frequent and turned into persistent coughing fits. Her eyes don’t itch, but her throat feels strange and ticklish.

“I thought I was someone who had no allergies,” Onwuchuluba says. “All of a sudden, I’m in the office and I start sneezing and sneezing. The person beside me was also going through the same thing. The sneezing was uncontrollable. I’ve never had that kind of feeling before.”