Newswise — Chicago’s tree pollen count today is 1600 – over the 1500 threshold that signals a dangerous air quality warning. “After only seven days of allergy count recording, we are documenting the first air quality alert in the 2012 allergy reporting season,” said Dr. Joseph Leija, who performs the official allergy count for the Midwest. “This is the first day of spring and this air quality alert will make many Midwesterners very miserable.”
The official Gottlieb Allergy Count today is: Trees Very High, Grass Low, Mold Low and Ragweed Low. “Ragweed in March is unheard of in the Midwest; I have never seen an allergy count so unusual,” Dr. Leija says. "The warm March temperatures and sunny skies have encouraged the early budding of trees and flowers and my phones at Gottlieb are ringing with sufferers seeking relief.” Headaches, sinus congestion, runny noses and fatigue will be common among Chicagoans today.
Dr. Joseph Leija, allergist at Loyola’s Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, is solely certified by the National Allergy Bureau to perform the daily official allergy count for the Midwest. “The recent rains followed by warm, sunny, summer-like temperatures have created the dangerously high tree pollen count,” he said of his unusually high morning count. “Allergy sufferers should stay indoors, keep the windows closed, use their air conditioners, and take their allergy medications.”
The Gottlieb Allergy Count is available to the public, in English, Polish and Spanish, through Twitter; at www.GottliebHospital.org and at 1-866-4-POLLEN (476-5536).
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