If you've noticed your allergies acting up lately, you're not alone. Warm and dry weather has extended this year’s fall allergy season, allowing pollen levels to skyrocket. FOX 5’s Arthur Chi’en has the story.
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00:00Have you had a sore throat lately or maybe a runny nose? If so, allergies may be the culprit
00:04and the dry warm weather we're experiencing could be making things worse. Don't get
00:08encouraged by that video to just to just sneeze in the middle of air. I've never done that in my
00:13life but you've done it like 300 times. All right Fox 5's Arthur Qian talked with an allergist about
00:19everything that's floating around in the air. If you look around you can spot the culprit or at
00:25least the co-conspirator. Pollen has been building up and while we've been basking in our extended
00:30summer weather, the lack of rain that makes it more enjoyable is also allowing pollen to stack
00:36up to very high levels. Yeah we definitely need something. I was just thinking about how it's
00:41actually too warm for the time of year. The fact that it's November next week is pretty ridiculous.
00:46We need rain. Do you feel, had you noticed that it's been a dry season? Absolutely yeah we even
00:52talked about that this morning that it's been drying yeah and it's going to be dry for five
00:56four days. There is a ton of pollen out there right now. Usually this time of year we have frost
01:03which actually depletes the amount of pollen that's in the air. Dr. Marie Cavuto-Patrizzo is an
01:09allergist and immunologist at Northwell Health. She says usually by this time of year not only does
01:15the rain wash pollen away but dipping temperatures bring a frost at least at night that neutralizes
01:21the amount of pollen in the air and since neither has been happening, her patients as young as three
01:26years old are reporting symptoms including congestion, runny nose, coughing and those with
01:31asthma are having a tougher time too. We're definitely getting more patient visits, more
01:36acute phone calls for patients who are suffering and patients who are just not feeling well on
01:41their regular medication regimen. The good news is that we're not helpless and allergists have
01:46this advice to protect yourself with from limiting time spent outdoors to closing your windows to
01:52using air conditioners if you want to cycle fresh air into your home and if you do spend any
01:57significant amount of time outdoors to shower so the pollen washes off and if you're still feeling
02:02it over-the-counter medications can be used to treat your symptoms. There are really two main
02:08pollen seasons here in the northeast. The one in the spring is where the pollen comes from grass
02:12and trees and in the fall it comes from weed and that's what's accumulating right now. A season
02:17that's built up so much pollen experts say will likely need more than one good storm
02:22to wash enough of it away to make a difference. Arthur Chien, Fox 5 News.