JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Pollen is on the rise and those with allergies across Northeast Florida may soon be in for a rough ride.
“In the past week or so, I’ll definitely say I’ve seen waves of pollen across my vehicle,” Robert Preti told Action News Jax Thursday morning. “Sniffles, runny nose, I get that every single year unfortunately.”
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According to the First Alert Weather Team, there’s already been an explosion of pine pollen in Northeast Florida over the past couple of weeks, with oak pollen soon to follow -- the kind of pollen that brings a bulk of the sniffles and allergy troubles.
“You see the yellow pollen, which is the pine pollen, but believe it or not, the pine pollen is not the one that typically causes people to have symptoms,” Dr. Sunil Joshi, the Chief Health Officer for the City of Jacksonville, said. “It’s the oak tree pollen that you can’t see.”
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Joshi also points out that symptoms can often be hard to differentiate between symptoms of the common cold or the flu, though he told Action News Jax there are some clues to tell the difference.
“Most people with the flu will feel very, very fatigued, have muscle aches and pains, and may even have some GI symptoms associated with it,” Joshi said. “Whereas with seasonal environmental allergies, there are very few, if any, GI symptoms associated with it.”
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Symptoms sometimes can even prove more severe than just the average sniffles for those with pre-existing respiratory issues.
“People who have asthma will get worse when their allergies are out of control. The same thing with chronic sinus disease as well,” Joshi said. “So you may end up getting sinus infections, bronchitis, pneumonia, and asthma exacerbations requiring antibiotics or steroids.”
You can keep up to date with current pollen levels through the Action News Jax First Alert Allergy Tracker by clicking here.
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