Hay fever explosion earlier than usual
A hay fever explosion is taking place earlier than usual this year, experts have said.
The start of spring was the driest since 1956, with half the expected rainfall in April and only a quarter of the long-term average in March, according to the Met Office.
The Environment Agency (EA) has warned that there is a 'medium' risk of summer drought and potential hosepipe ban without sustained rainfall.
Dr Adrian Morris, of the Surrey allergy clinic, said the warm weather has meant people are having more symptoms of hay fever 'earlier this year'.
'People are having more symptoms earlier this year, they don't respond to the standard medications as quickly – their complaint is that their symptoms are less effective,' he said, adding 'it's more apparent this year'.
He added that the increase in hay fever this year was because of a combination of high pollen counts and an increased resistance to antihistamines.
'Worse with city dwellers'
'It's possibly because the pollen counts are getting higher, and there is a thing called tachyphylaxis, where your body seems to not be as responsive to the antihistamines as it was before,' he said.
'There has definitely been a much greater occurrence of hay fever in recent years. This year we've seen that the pollen count is very high, and people are much more symptomatic.'
'People are afraid to go out of doors to the park, and we find hay fever is worse with city dwellers than countryside, because diesel mixes with the pollen and drives it deeper into their airways.'
The Met Office has said the dry weather provides 'the perfect weather conditions for pollen production and release' and 'the early onset of the pollen season'.
It explained that 'unseasonably mild winters, warm springs and dry summers in recent years have led to plants growing more vigorously and a longer, stronger growing season.'
Hay fever sufferers should 'install pollen filters in your car if they are not already fitted' and 'drive with windows closed', the Met Office advised.
Professor Gideon Lack, a professor of paediatric allergy at King's College London, said that he has also noticed a rise in patients with hay fever over the last week.
He said: 'In the last week, I've noticed a rise in my patient population with hay fever', adding more broadly that there has been an 'explosion' of hay fever over the course of the 20th century.
He added that there has been some evidence of the pollen season being longer in recent years because of global warming.
'Increased global warming'
He said: 'There has been some evidence that the pollen season may be longer with increased global warming. The pollen season starts earlier and that can lead to higher pollen counts which would increase the duration of the pollen season and also therefore the duration and severity of hay fever.
'Typically its warm weather follows a period of wet weather where there is plenty of warmth and enough moisture for pollen to be produced.
'We've had good rain earlier and now we are entering a period of sustained warmth which is what produces pollen. Hay fever can be particularly severe after thunderstorms.
'Some seasons will be lower depending on the pollen count, and there will be fluctuation from year to year. At the moment the pollen count is high.'
He recommended 'a long acting antihistamine' which he said would 'deal with the whole body and with itchy skin and will protect the eyes and nose.'
For longer-term protective treatment, Prof Lack advised immunotherapy, where the immune system is flooded with pollen to switch off the body's rejection response which results in longer-term improvement.
He said that in severe cases of hay fever, the body can break out in 'itchy skin and raised welts'.
'Worsening of eczema'
'Hay fever can cause worsening of eczema, itchy skin and raised welts – which we call hives. This can occur especially when people sit on the grass wearing shorts, and the legs can become covered in a red, raised blotchy rash that looks a bit like a nettle rash,' he said.
'Hay fever can affect the skin more severely as well and cause swelling of the eyes and face to the point where the eyelids are so swollen they are almost closed.'
He also encouraged those struggling with hay fever to invest in 'a nasal steroid spray, and antihistamine eye drops'. He said that a combination of the two should give you a 50 per cent reduction in symptoms, but needs to be taken daily during the pollen season.
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