Variety of Pollens Throughout Allergy Seasons (Pollen.com)

Variety of Pollens throughout Allergy Seasons

For many allergy sufferers, pollen can be a vicious word reminiscent of many sneezy, unhealthy days and nights. How can fine powder released from flowering plants affect our senses so greatly?

To explain…pollen is a plant’s only form of reproduction and it’s produced in mass quantities. It’s carried in the air and can land in a person’s eyes, nose, lungs and on skin.

For people with allergies, pollen is an allergen that causes an allergic reaction. Their immune system treats the pollen as an invader and responds by mobilizing to attack by producing large amounts of antibody. This allergic reaction can cause the following symptoms: itchy watery eyes, runny nose, itchy throat, hives, fatigue, and irritability.

When is Pollen Season?

Pollens spread by the wind. Pollen from trees, grasses, and weeds are the main cause of allergies. Spring is not the only allergy season, many plants pollinate year round. Your location will determine the time and duration of your pollen season. Pollen counts will vary from day to day as well as hour to hour.

Different Pollens for Each Pollen Season

In springtime, pollen from the trees begins its release between January and April, depending on the climate and location. These trees include elm, pine, birch, ash, hickory, poplar, and cypress to name a few.

Summertime is when grass pollen reigns supreme: pollen from northern grass in colder climates, such as timothy, rye, and blue; and southern grass pollens in the warmer climates, such as Bermuda Grass.

In the fall, typically weed pollen takes control. These weeds include ragweed, nettle, mugwort, fat hen and sorrel.

https://www.pollen.com/allergy/pollen-season

Cold verses the Flu (and yes, it is that time of year again...)

Flu or Cold Symptoms?

When you wake up sneezing, coughing, and have that achy, feverish, can't move a muscle feeling, how do you know whether you have cold symptoms or the flu?

It's important to know the difference between flu and cold symptoms. A cold is a milder respiratory illness than the flu. While cold symptoms can make you feel bad for a few days, flu symptoms can make you feel quite ill for a few days to weeks. The flu can also result in serious health problems such as pneumonia and hospitalizations.

What are common cold symptoms?

Cold symptoms usually begin with a sore throat, which usually goes away after a day or two. Nasal symptoms, runny nose, and congestion follow, along with a cough by the fourth and fifth days. Fever is uncommon in adults, but a slight fever is possible. Children are more likely to have a fever with a cold.

With cold symptoms, the nose teems with watery nasal secretions for the first few days. Later, these become thicker and darker. Dark mucus is natural and does not usually mean you have developed a bacterial infection, such as a sinus infection.

Several hundred different viruses may cause your cold symptoms.

How long do cold symptoms last?

Cold symptoms usually last for about a week. During the first three days that you have cold symptoms, you are contagious. This means you can pass the cold to others, so stay home and get some much-needed rest.

If cold symptoms do not seem to be improving after a week, you may have a bacterial infection, which means you may need antibiotics.

Sometimes you may mistake cold symptoms for allergic rhinitis (hay fever) or a sinus infection. If cold symptoms begin quickly and are improving after a week, then it is usually a cold, not allergy. If your cold symptoms do not seem to be getting better after a week, check with your doctor to see if you have developed an allergy or sinusitis.

What are common flu symptoms?

Flu symptoms are usually more severe than cold symptoms and come on quickly. Symptoms of flu include sore throat, fever, headache, muscle aches and soreness, congestion, and cough. Swine flu in particular is also associated with vomiting and diarrhea.

National Prescription Drug Take Back Day - 9/26/2015

Building Bright Futures: Introducing Vicki Hoefle

Why we run...

Friends, fun, HEALTH!!

VT Corporate Cup – 2015 Results

FEMALE NON-PROFIT RUNNING TEAM RESULTS (82 teams)

9.  ETERNAL OPTIMISTS                     1:19:55

Katie Babic 25:49, Nora McDonough (Susie Lowe) 25:5, Kaiya Korb 28:09

MIXED NON-PROFIT RUNNING TEAM RESULTS (106 teams)

4.  JACKPOT                                          1:09:31

 Dan Greenleaf 20:39, Reeve Basom 22:06, Katie Westhelle 26:46

40.  SLOW RIDERS                               1:24:04

Colleen Smith 24:17, Eric Mongeon 28:10, Tommy Young 31:37

52.  LES ESCARGOTS                           1:28:01 

Emily Smith 25:54, Lee Van Dine 31:03, Joe Robinson 31:04

60.  NO CRYING IN B-BALL!                1:29:40         

Clayton Wetzel 25:08, Ally Bataille Waitsfield 29:50, Samantha Streletsky 34:42

MIXED NON-PROFIT WALKING TEAM RESULTS (37 teams)

26.  THE STREET WALKERS                 2:54:49          

Kathi Orr 58:15, Emily Church 58:17, Jeremy Hill 58:17

Health Department Warns Tick Season Already Underway

BURLINGTON - Ticks are a lot like weeds:  they survive winter's freezing temperatures, heavy snowfall and lack of sunshine. These resilient critters can carry pathogens - microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses and parasites - that cause illness.

"Ticks are abundant in all parts of the state. Using bug spray and doing daily tick checks should be part of every Vermonter's routine," said Erica Berl, an infectious disease epidemiologist for the Vermont Department of Health. "The earlier you remove a tick, the less likely you are to become sick."

Thirteen different tick species have been identified in Vermont, but only four are known to carry pathogens that cause disease in humans.

Lyme disease, one of the more common tickborne diseases in Vermont,  is transmitted from the bite of infected deer ticks. Symptoms of Lyme disease include an expanding red skin rash, swollen joints and flu-like symptoms. The number of cases reported to the Health Department peaked in 2013 with nearly 900 cases, and there were nearly 600 cases last year.

Transmission can be prevented if the tick is removed within about 36 hours, but the nymphs are so small that they can go unnoticed if you aren't looking for them carefully. Most infections occur in the summer months when the nymphs are most active.

Lyme disease can be successfully treated with antibiotics, especially if treatment is given early. Left untreated, Lyme disease may affect other parts of the body, including the heart and nervous system. If you believe you may have been infected or have developed a rash or fever, call your health care provider as soon as possible.

The Health Department is advising everyone to take the following actions this spring and summer:

• AVOID - Areas that are good tick habitat such as tall grass, or areas with a lot of brush and leaf litter, and along forest edges.
• REPEL - Before you go outside, remember to use insect repellant with up to 30% DEET and treat clothes with permethrin. When possible, wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants and tuck your pants into your socks to keep ticks away from your skin. Inspect yourself regularly when outside to catch any ticks before they bite.
• INSPECT - Do daily tick checks on yourself, children and pets. Check yourself from head to toe. While nymphs are most commonly found on the lower legs, they may be anywhere on the body.
• REMOVE - Remove ticks promptly. Showering within two hours of coming indoors has also been proven effective in preventing Lyme disease by washing ticks off the skin.

For the past two years, the Health Department has encouraged Vermonters to report ticks, including how many, and what type. A deer tick pulled off clothing on Sleepy Hollow Road, in Colchester, and a Lonestar tick pulled off a dog on Mosquitoville Road between Rygate and Peacham were among the hundreds of reports posted on the Health Department's Tick Tracker website last year.

To report a tick, visit the tick tracker at: https://apps.health.vermont.gov/gis/vttracking/ticktracker/2015/

Pollen Count HIGH: 10.8 out of 12

TUESDAY, May 5, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- It can be difficult for parents to tell whether their child has a cold or hay fever, but there are ways to distinguish between the two, experts say.

"Runny, stuffy or itchy noses, sneezing, coughing, fatigue, and headaches can all be symptoms of both allergies and colds, but when parents pay close attention to minor details they will be able to tell the difference," Dr. Michelle Lierl, a pediatric allergist at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, said in a hospital news release.

"Children who have springtime or fall allergies have much more itching of their noses; they often have fits of sneezing and usually rub their noses in an upward motion," Lierl explained. "They also complain about an itchy, scratchy throat or itchy eyes, whereas with a cold, they don't."

Nasal discharge is usually clear if someone has allergies and yellowish if someone has a cold, she added.

If children have seasonal allergies, Lierl offers the following tips to help ease symptoms:

• Keep home and car windows closed and change air conditioner filters every month.
• Have children wash their face, hands and hair after they've been outside. It's also a good idea to flush their eyes and ears with a nonprescription saline solution.
• Remove clothing. After kids have been outside, they should change their clothes. The clothing should be washed to remove pollen and other allergens.
• Limit children's outdoor activity in the early morning, when pollen counts are higher.
• Make sure children are taking their allergy medicine daily during pollen season.