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OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahomans are grabbing their handkerchiefs and wiping their noses as they sneeze and wheeze into another congested hay fever season.
Sneezing, coughing, runny noses and itchy eyes are common in late summer and early autumn among the estimated 50 million people in the United States who suffer from hay fever, otherwise known as seasonal allergic rhinitis.
But heavy rainfall this spring and generally mild summer temperatures have made much of Oklahoma fertile ground for weeds and other plants that produce allergens, forcing an early start to the allergy season and threatening to make people unusually stuffed-up.
"It looks like it's going to be a bad season," said Dr. Warren Filley, a board certified allergist at the Oklahoma Allergy & Asthma Clinic and a clinical professor of medicine at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine in Oklahoma City.
A pollen- and mold-counting station the clinic maintains for the National Allergy Bureau indicated the level of allergens associated with grass, weeds and mold were all in the medium-high range in late August and were forecast to increase during the first week of September.
"I bet it gets a lot higher," Filley said. "We're just seeing the tip of the iceberg. We're thinking that it's going to happen in the next couple of weeks."
Filley said the early onset of the allergy season can be attributed to flooding during Oklahoma's unusually wet spring following heavy rainfall that produced perfect growing conditions for one of the most prolific allergen-producing plants — ragweed.
"We have a fertile ground for ragweed," he said. "This is very early this year to see an uptick in the ragweed. We're seeing significantly higher levels."
A ragweed plant only lives one season but it can produce up to 1 billion pollen grains, according to the American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology website. Those lightweight grains float easily through the air and trigger allergic reactions when the body's immune system treats them as a foreign invader.
Fall allergy symptoms used to start in mid-August and run through September, but symptoms now begin in early August and extend through October in many parts of the nation, according to the academy. It says studies suggest rising temperatures and higher carbon dioxide levels contribute to longer growth time for ragweed and other allergen-producing plants.
Pollen counts indicate the highest levels of pollen are in northwestern Oklahoma and the far western Panhandle, where pharmacists say they have seen a dramatic increase in allergy sufferers in recent weeks.
"Probably more this year than we've seen in the last few years," said Steve Bogdahn, a pharmacist at Mick's Family Pharmacy in Woodward.
"It's been fairly bad as far as the number of people it's affected," said Kurt Knop, a pharmacist at Family Pharmacy in Enid. "We're seeing a high amount of it, a lot more than normal."
The pharmacists said residents are asking for a variety of over-the-counter antihistamines to manage the symptoms of sneezing and itchy, watery eyes.
"The treatments we use now were prescriptions for years and years," Bogdahn said. "Those are wonderful. There's a lot of treatment you can get at the local pharmacy."
Terry Moore, a pharmacist at Parkview pharmacy in Guymon, said he has seen a sharp uptick in the number of children experiencing allergy-related respiratory infections.
"Already this year we've already had a lot of kids sick with bronchitis and allergies, which is kind of unusual," Moore said. Although allergies do not cause infections, they cause inflammation and swelling that can lead to them.
Filley said guidelines for combatting allergic reactions include avoiding exposure to allergens, taking medication to manage symptoms, and immunotherapy. Allergic reactions are likely to continue in the state until wintery weather brings the first freeze, he said.
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