Does the Haze Make You Fall Sick More Easily?
Yes. During a haze, many people really do fall sick more easily. The fine particles in haze, known as PM2.5, are small enough to slip deep into your airways, where they inflame and irritate the lining that normally traps germs. That irritation can leave you more prone to coughs, sinus flare-ups and respiratory infections, especially children aged 2 and above, the elderly, and anyone with asthma or a sensitive nose. Below is what is actually happening inside your body during the haze, who is most affected, and the practical steps that genuinely help your family cope.
TYGRON® is a tiger milk mushroom (Lignosus rhinocerus) functional food developed by ORGANO and Fungitech Sdn Bhd in Malaysia and formulated in Australia.
In this article
- Can the haze really make you fall sick?
- Why do coughs, colds and sinus problems spike during haze season?
- Who is most affected by the haze?
- What actually helps your body cope during the haze?
- A simple daily haze-season routine
- Frequently asked questions
Can the haze really make you fall sick?
It can. Fine particulate matter, PM2.5, is usually the pollutant that decides the number you read on a hazy morning. Malaysia's Air Pollutant Index covers six criteria pollutants, PM2.5, PM10, carbon monoxide, ozone, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide. The Department of Environment computes a sub-index for each and publishes the highest one as that hour's API, and during haze the highest is almost always PM2.5. What that looks like in practice: on 11 August 2026, Malay Mail reported that 11 areas in Sarawak were reading above 110 on the API as of 6am, with Serian IPD highest at 189, then Samarahan at 171, Kuching at 166 and Bintulu at 159, drawing on DOE's own APIMS data. Those are August 2026 numbers and they date quickly. The shape of an episode does not.
The haze does not "give" you the flu the way a virus does. What it does is wear down the airway defences that keep everyday germs out. Think of the lining of your nose and lungs as a wet, sticky filter that catches dust and microbes and sweeps them away. Haze dries and inflames that filter, so it works less well, and the same cold or cough that your body would usually shrug off can take hold and linger.
Why do coughs, colds and sinus problems spike during haze season?
Two things are worth naming properly here. The first is the system doing the work. Bustamante-Marin and Ostrowski, writing in Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology in 2017, describe airway mucus and cilia as the lung's primary innate defence: the cilia beat in coordinated, wave-like sequences that propel pathogens and inhaled particles, trapped in the mucus layer, up and out of the airways. A haze day loads that system with far more particles to move, which is why a scratchy throat and a nagging cough are usually the first signs. The second is the room you retreat into. Staying indoors with windows shut and the aircon running does not clean the air by itself, and the United States Environmental Protection Agency's smoke guidance is explicit that a standard air conditioner or a basic HVAC filter does not remove PM2.5 without added HEPA filtration.
Haze season in Malaysia often overlaps with wetter, more changeable weather, which is also when coughs and colds circulate more. If you want the seasonal picture, our guide on when flu season really is in Malaysia breaks down the year-round pattern. And if your cough hangs on after the sky clears, there is a reason for that too, which we cover in why a cough can linger after the haze clears.
Who is most affected by the haze?
Everyone breathes the same air, but the haze does not affect everyone equally, and two authorities say so in their own words. Malaysia's Ministry of Health, on its Jerebu page, names children, older adults, people with asthma, bronchitis, chronic lung or heart conditions or allergies, smokers and people who work outdoors as the higher-risk groups, and its first instruction to them is to keep taking their medication as advised. The United States Environmental Protection Agency adds the reason for one of those groups: adults aged 65 and over are at greater risk from wildfire and haze smoke because they are more likely to already have chronic heart or lung disease, and because the body's ability to respond to health challenges generally declines with age. For a child-focused plan, see our guide on protecting children's lungs during the haze.
What actually helps your body cope during the haze?
You cannot control the outdoor air, but you can lower how much of it reaches your lungs and support your body while the haze lasts. Five things make the biggest practical difference:
- Cut your exposure. Check the API reading each morning, keep windows shut when it is high, and move exercise indoors. Our guide on what to do for your lungs when the AQI hits "unhealthy" has the thresholds.
- Clean up your indoor air. A filter or purifier, a well-serviced aircon and fewer indoor irritants matter more than most people think when you are stuck inside for days.
- Stay well hydrated. Warm water and warm drinks help keep the airway lining moist so it can do its sweeping job.
- Nourish your natural defences. Colourful fruit and vegetables, enough sleep and gentle movement all support the immune system through a demanding week. Our list of foods and habits that support lung wellness during haze goes deeper.
- Lean on traditional respiratory support. Long before air purifiers, Malaysian families turned to botanicals such as tiger milk mushroom for respiratory wellness through smoky, dusty seasons.
Tiger milk mushroom (Cendawan Susu Harimau, or 虎乳芝) has a long heritage of traditional use for respiratory wellness in this region. It is prized for its 1,3/1,6 beta-glucan, which is the most important active compound and quality benchmark in tiger milk mushroom, where a higher content signals greater potency and quality.
| What to look at | Clean-air day | Haze day |
|---|---|---|
| PM2.5 reaching your lungs | Low, mostly filtered by the nose | High, reaches the small airways |
| Airway lining | Moist, sweeping germs out well | Dry and inflamed, working less well |
| Common symptoms | Few | Scratchy throat, cough, blocked nose, itchy eyes |
| What to prioritise | Normal routine | Reduce exposure, filter indoor air, hydrate, support defences |
A simple daily haze-season routine
The families who cope best approach the haze as a marathon, not a sprint. A workable daily rhythm looks like this: check the API before the school run, keep the worst air outside, run a filter in the rooms you use most, drink warm water through the day, and give your body steady, nourishing support rather than a last-minute scramble when symptoms appear.
A daily functional food can be part of that steady support. TYGRON® is a tiger milk mushroom functional food built around 1,000 mg of tiger milk mushroom sclerotium per sachet, alongside an 8-in-1 blend that includes elderberry, astragalus, lion's mane and turmeric, plus 90 mg of Vitamin C. It is designed for the whole family, ages 2 and above: adults take 1 to 2 sachets a day, ages 7 to 18 take one sachet a day, and ages 2 to 6 take half a sachet a day. Most people see improvement within the first few days. Some customers even notice a difference after just one to two days, and most report a significant improvement in their lung wellness after a few weeks of daily use. Individual experiences vary.
A daily tiger milk mushroom functional food for the whole family, ages 2 and above. Australian Science. Malaysian Heritage.
None of this replaces medical care. If a cough, wheeze or breathlessness is severe or does not settle, see a doctor, especially for a young child, an older adult, or anyone with asthma.
Frequently asked questions
Does the haze lower your immune system?
The haze does not switch your immune system off, but it does stress your airway defences. Fine particles inflame the lining of the nose and lungs and slow the tiny hairs that sweep germs away, so everyday coughs and colds can take hold more easily. Reducing your exposure and supporting your body with good sleep, hydration and nourishing food all help while the haze lasts.
How long does a haze cough usually last?
A mild haze cough often eases within a week or two once the air clears and the airways settle. Some coughs linger longer because the airway lining stays irritated for a while after the haze goes. If your cough lasts more than three weeks, comes with fever or breathlessness, or keeps returning, see a doctor rather than waiting it out.
Can I stop myself falling sick during the haze?
There is no guaranteed way to avoid falling sick, but you can stack the odds in your favour. Cut your exposure by checking the API and staying in filtered air on bad days, keep well hydrated, sleep enough, eat colourful whole foods, and give your body steady daily support. These habits help your natural defences do their job.
Are children more at risk during the haze?
Yes. Children breathe faster and their airways are still growing, so they take in more particles relative to their body size. Keep them in filtered indoor air on high-API days, keep them hydrated, and watch for a cough or wheeze that is getting worse. TYGRON® is suitable from age 2 and above at half a sachet a day for ages 2 to 6.
Does staying indoors fully protect me from the haze?
Staying indoors helps, but it is not a complete shield, and there is a measurement showing the limit. Sharma and Balasubramanian, of the National University of Singapore, monitored one second-floor apartment through the 2015 transboundary haze and published the results in Aerosol and Air Quality Research in 2018. The apartment was naturally ventilated, and their methods record that "During the sampling period, the apartment windows were kept open and occupants were requested to fill questionnaire about their indoor activities." With the windows open, indoor PM2.5 averaged 0.9 times the outdoor level, and the authors wrote that "The I/O ratio being closer to 1 indicates that remaining indoors in naturally ventilated buildings may also be as harmful as remaining outdoors during the haze period". Indoors was still lower than outdoors at every haze level they measured; the authors' point is that the margin was too small to count as protection. That is one apartment in Singapore across seven days in October 2015, with the windows open the whole time, so it says nothing about a sealed, air-conditioned home and it is not a Malaysian figure. What the authors recommend is not simply staying in. It is filtering: portable air cleaners with sufficient clean air delivery rate indoors, and suitable respirators outdoors. Running an air filter, keeping the aircon serviced and reducing indoor smoke or dust is what makes indoor air genuinely cleaner rather than just enclosed.
Formulated in Australia
TYGRON® is formulated in Australia, designed by our Sydney-based team (Fungitech Australia Pty Ltd) to one of the world's most stringent functional-food standards, then manufactured in Malaysia under GMP, HACCP and Halal-certified conditions. Read more about why TYGRON® is formulated in Australia.
This article was written and reviewed by Boey Tze Zhou, Founder and CEO of ORGANO. Boey holds a Bachelor of Agricultural Science (First Class Honours) from Universiti Putra Malaysia and has completed Stanford University's Introduction to Food and Health and the University of Minnesota's Integrative Health and Medicine specialization (including Herbal Medicine) through Coursera. With over two decades in functional-mushroom cultivation, he developed the TMM365+ slow-grown method behind the Malaysia Book of Records beta-glucan certification held by Fungitech Sdn Bhd. He is an international speaker on functional mushrooms, invited to China International Mushroom Day 2025 and other mushroom-science events across the Asia-Pacific, and was named one of the Top Ten Outstanding Penang Youth (TOPY) in 2024. Read more about the founder →
TYGRON® is a functional food, not a medicine, and is not intended to diagnose or replace professional medical care. If symptoms are severe or persistent, please consult a doctor. Individual experiences vary.
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