Allergies might hit hard this season

The warm weather and mild winter this year might make for a rougher-than-usual allergy season this spring, according to weatherchannel.com  and Barbara Moss, a health educator at the IU Health Center.

“This has been a special allergy season in that it occurred so rapidly with spring and summer descending upon us all at once,” Moss said in an email. “There has also been a record high pollen count this year, so both students and staff have been pretty miserable. One staffer described the plight of some as ‘horrific’ with some suffering who never had allergies in the past.”

The Weather Channel ranked Bloomington’s tree pollen levels as “very high” for the past several weeks and several upcoming weeks.

Sophomore Wajid Zacir has spring allergies and said they are now beginning to affect him for the year.

“I just end up taking medicine before it even starts,” he said. “I just have a huge bottle of Claritin at home.”

Zacir, who is originally from India but now lives in Dubai when not in Bloomington, said he has definitely experienced a difference in allergies since coming to IU.

“Between Dubai and Bloomington, it’s a lot better in Dubai because we don’t have spring, we just have summer and winter,” he said.

Allergy season is not yet in full swing, but pollen counts in other states are already breaking records, according to the American College of Allergies, Asthma and Immunology.

Whether Bloomington’s pollen count will break records this year remains to be seen.

Zacir said time will tell whether his allergies will worsen.

“So far, not too bad,” he said. “But I mean, I don’t know yet.”

Moss said IU students are welcome to visit the health center if they suffer from
allergies.

“Students or staff can either make an appointment or walk in to see a clinician to receive an exam and discuss their particular symptoms,” Moss said. “The practitioner can prescribe over-the-counter or prescription nasal sprays, eye drops, lung inhalers or allergy pills as appropriate. Most commonly, an over-the-counter medicine such as Claritin or Allegra could be prescribed.”