Doctors and pharmacists are reporting a surge in patients experiencing severe hay fever symptoms, as pollen counts in the state's North and North-West remain at higher than normal levels.
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Dr Toby Gardner, a GP and partner at Newstead Medical Centre, said the practice had responded to a record number of patients with hay fever in recent weeks.
"I'd say we've had probably the busiest season with hay fever that we've ever had, which is complicated this year obviously because of COVID," he said.
"I assume it's because of La Nina and because we've had so much rainfall. So there's a lot more pollen in the air. Everyday I am seeing at least two or three patients [with hay fever].
"It's a relatively old fashioned treatment, but we still offer steroid injections for people with hay fever, which does lessen their symptoms. I would say I do them at least twice a week for people, which is far more than I ever have in the past."
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Similarly, pharmacists have reported an increase in demand for people seeking over-the-counter hay fever medication.
Pharmacy Guild Tasmania president John Dowling, who operates a chemist at Latrobe, said there had been a significant spike in recent weeks.
"It's just been berserk," he said
"It has definitely been a bad season for it, but especially in the last couple of weeks we have seen particularly heavy demand. Hay fever is definitely normal for this time of year, but the surge for medications has been much higher than usual."
Hay fever, also known as Allergic Rhinitis, can be triggered by a number of things including house dust, animal fur and air pollutants.
However, Dr Penelope Jones, a research fellow at the Menzies Institute for medical research, said the most common cause of hay fever in Tasmania at this time of year was most likely grass pollen.
She said Tasmania, like many parts of Australia, had experienced a particularly heavy pollen season this year, which could explain increased presentations of people with severe symptoms.
"In Launceston, earlier in the year we saw quite high levels of plain tree pollen - certainly higher than normal - just because of the wet spring. Now, since early November, we've seen quite high levels of grass pollen," she said.
"Lots of people are allergic to tree pollen, but the single most people are allergic to is grass pollen. So that is if people are getting hay fever now, it's probably because of that."
Dr Jones was part of the research team responsible for developing the AirRater app - aimed at helping people with asthma, hay fever and other lung conditions to better manage their symptoms.
Previously only funded to operated in Tasmania, the ACT and the Northern Territory, the app was made available to all areas of Australia earlier this year in response to bushfires occurring across the country.
Along with tracking symptoms, the app provides up-to-date information around air quality including smoke, pollen and temperature.
With pollen monitoring stations in Launceston and Hobart, Dr Jones said while pollen counts had been high compared to data collected in previous years, it was not unusual for this time of year.
"The hay fever season, unfortunately in Tasmania and many part of Australia, is actually quite long. Because we have a sequence of different plants flowering and lots of those cause allergies," she said.
"In Tasmania our peak grass pollen season is November, December and even into January. So we do typically see quite high allergy hay fever levels until through through into summer."
In September, Public Health warned that anyone experiencing hay fever symptoms should get tested for COVID-19.
"We do not want Tasmanians to think that their symptoms could only be hay fever without first ruling out coronavirus," Public Health director Dr Mark Veitch said at the time.
This advice remains in place in Tasmania, with anyone with even the mildest of symptoms - such as sneezing or a runny nose - encouraged to get tested.
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