High pollen rates started earlier this year and are expected to last longer.
BY JACOB PALMER | DIGITAL NEWS EDITOR
To those sniffling and sneezing through the workday: You are not alone.
Oregon, and the Willamette Valley specifically, has one of the highest pollen counts in the nation due to a robust grass seed industry. And according to pollen.com, Eugene is the worst city in the nation for allergy sufferers.
“It looks like the extent of our season is increasing as well as the severity of the season,” said Dr. Anthony Montanaro, chief of the allergy department at Oregon Health & Science University.
Nationwide, as many as 60 million people suffer from allergic rhinitis, more commonly known as hayfever. Symptoms, which include congestion, sneezing and a cough, can be debilitating: “People are really uncomfortable,” Montanaro said. “It has a tremendous impact on the quality of life.”
(SOURCE: OregonLive.com)
Oregonian reporter Lynn Terry writes that people with allergies will suffer for another month before grass pollen season ceases.
Advice for minimizing the impacts: Showering when you get home, avoiding exercise and installing air filters throughout the house.
