Pollen count spikes, spring allergies in full bloom across Lower Mainland
Posted March 22, 2019 2:46 pm.
Last Updated March 22, 2019 2:52 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — Spring is a complicated time for those suffering with seasonal allergies.
Alder pollen counts are surging and wreaking havoc on people’s immune systems right now.
In the Lower Mainland, those trees are found mostly in parks like the University Endowment Lands and Stanley Park. People allergic to pollen from those trees will have to face symptoms until the end of June.
Joanne Yeung, an allergist and immunologist in Vancouver, says people may have just started noticing allergy symptoms.
“Because of our weather this year, it’s been colder for longer, the pollens have really surged in the last three weeks or so,” she says. “Most people are feeling it in this current week for the first time.”
If you’re allergic to grass pollen, get ready for that round of reactions to hit a little bit later.
“If you have multiple environmental allergies — including grass pollen — that actually peaks in May, June and July, and last until the end of the summer,” she says.
Allergies tend to be worse for teenagers and people in their 20s and 30s.
About 10 per cent of them suffer so badly it interferes with their daily life, according to Yeung.
– With files from Dean Recksiedler
