Seasonal Allergies

As spring approaches full bloom, seasonal allergies spike as more and more people are affected by pollen outbreaks. 

Allergies typically last from mid February to early in the summer then from late August to early October. However, mid winter temperatures and a rainy spring can cause plants to pollinate faster which can cause symptoms to last longer.This surge in allergy symptoms are due to the types of weather that occur in each season. The pollen gets washed away by the rain in spring but heavy rainfall can lead to pollen counts soaring. On days with little to no wind, airborne allergens are grounded. Another allergen, mold, grows quickly in high heat and humidity while tree, grass, and ragweed pollens thrive on cold nights and warm days. Pollen levels tend to peak in the early morning.

“It’s worse in spring, mostly but fall can be pretty bad too. In April the rain makes the pollen go into the air and also everything growing means more pollen,” Newtown High School freshman Isaiah Ribeiro said.

Seasonal allergies occur when your body overreacts to things like pollen and mold spores. 

“One aspect of allergies is that you can be really tired or fatigued, so it wipes you out,” Christina Price, MD, a Yale Medicine allergist and immunologist, said

Your immune system then begins to think that it’s being attacked by pollen and mold spores and releases chemicals such as histamines, leukotrienes and prostaglandins, which cause a cluster of the common allergy symptoms: runny eyes and nose, itchy, watery eyes, sneezing and coughing.

“It’s an immune response that your body is having to the pathogen that is the foreign thing entering your body. So your body starts creating mucus to trap the allergens or sneezing to get rid of the allergens,” Newtown High School biology teacher Jeanette Roderick said.

About every one in four children report having a seasonal allergy. 18.9% are more affected during the spring.

“When I was younger I didn’t have as many seasonal allergies,” Roderick said.