B.C. allergy season gets an early start, says doctor

An exceptionally early allergy season on British Columbia's South Coastis causingmany people to mistake their symptoms for a cold or flu virus, says aVancouver allergist.

"The season has started earlier this year," saidDr.AminKanani."If you look at the trend over many years, yes, we areseeinghigher pollen counts occurring, and it is coming out earlier in the year."

Kanani says a mild winter led toallergy season kicking offin January this year. Hesays tree pollen counts usually start to increase in February during a mild winter, but otherwisecan start as late as March.

For those hoping the early start means the worst is over, Kanani warns thatpeak pollenis yet to come.

"The pollen counts are definitely increasing, and they will get worse through the months of March and April," he said.

Kanani said there's not enough data yet to say whether pollen counts are higher this year, but hesays long-term trends lead him to suspect they will have increased by 10 to 30 per cent.

Cold or allergies?

Kananisays many of his patients havebeen coming into his clinic incorrectlybelievingthey have a cold or the flu.

He saysthere are a few hints that can help discern whether that runny nose is pollen or virus-based.

Allergy symptoms to watch for:

• Longer-lasting symptoms allergies can go on for weeks to months.
• Clear nose discharge,instead of the yellow-greenish stuff often caused by colds and the flu.
• Itchiness around your eyes and nose.
• No fever.

Treating your symptoms

Although allergy symptoms can cause misery, Kanani says the outcomegenerally only goes as far asa loss in quality of life. However, he warns that people with asthma should watch for flare-ups.

Kanani says the first step to treating symptomsis to identify which pollens are causing them.

Then, those with mild symptoms should be able to rely on over-the-counter medication and saline nose rinses.

More moderate symptoms can be treated with a prescription nose spray, he says, and those with serious symptoms may want to consider immunotherapy to desensitize themselves to the pollen.