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Local cities earn spot on list of '2023 Allergy Capitals'
Ariel Plasencia reports
TAMPA, Fla. - If your allergies are still acting up, you’re not alone.
"They’ve been pretty bad," Tampa resident Maryann Olsen said. "Usually, I don’t have allergies, and now all the sudden, I do."
It all depends on what you’re allergic to, according to TGH Urgent Care’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Paul Nanda.
"Different trees and different plants bloom at different times and release that pollen at different times," Dr. Nanda said. "We're still seeing a lot of ragweed and some other pollens that are prominent out there right now."
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The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America recently identified the 2023 Allergy Capitals based on pollen scores and over-the-counter allergy medication use.
Here are the Florida cities that made the list:
- Sarasota = 6th
- Cape Coral = 7th
- Orlando = 8th
- Miami = 14th
- Lakeland = 15th
- Palm Bay = 17th
- Tampa = 18th
"I'm telling a lot of people to get pressurized saline mist and shoot it up the nose and clean everything out," Bayfront Health St. Pete emergency physician Dr. Eric Shamas said.
Shamas told FOX 13 he's had people come in who think they might have a bad cold, but in some cases, it ends up just being allergies.
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"It's really tough to tell the difference because there's a lot of overlap: The upper respiratory symptoms like coughing, nasal congestion, feeling a little bit rundown," Dr. Shamas said. "We can test for flu, and we can test for COVID. And if it's not that, then often I tell patients it's likely you're either having a viral upper respiratory illness, any number of common cold viruses, or you're having just seasonal allergies, which can develop even if you've never had them before."
Just ask Olsen!
"Every morning, I take the Nasacort spray for my nose and Claritin at night. And I know the days I miss my Claritin: I wake up, and I'm coughing," Olsen said.