'There was so much of it': Experts explain the pollen coating UNC's campus

They may not be in the magical land of Oz, but as UNC students move, sniffle and sneeze through clouds of yellow pollen each spring, the streets of Chapel Hill seem to resemble the yellow brick road. 

Dr. Edwin Kim, chief of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology at UNC, said that allergies are divided into seasonal outdoor allergies and year-long indoor allergies, saying that the most common allergens include dust mites, pets and tree pollen.

“Springtime is when we think of tree pollen as being the biggest problem,” he said. 

According to the Center of Disease Control and National Center of Health Statistics, approximately 26 percent of adults — 50 million Americans — have seasonal allergies.

According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, Raleigh ranks as the seventh worst city for allergies based on daily pollen counts, over-the-counter allergy medication use and the availability of allergy specialists. 

Dr. Daniel Jobe, the medical director at UNC Campus Health, said that Campus Health has had over 100 student visits for allergies in the first quarter of the calendar year.

Madeleine Alvarez, a UNC student who is allergic to pollen, said that she is constantly sniffling, her eyes are red and she struggles to breathe through her nose.

“I've been taking a lot of allergy medicine like Zyrtec and Claritin, using some eye drops to try to make my eyes a little bit less itchy, and I always have tissues on me,” she said.

Kim said that climate change is a major factor in worsening allergies, as fewer freezing days allow more plants to grow, increasing pollen production.

“It's very clear over the last 10 plus years that there are a lot less of those sort of below freezing days in the Triangle area and Chapel Hill in particular,” he said.

Maya Hagan, a UNC student who works at Craige Residence Hall, said that she was coming home from work and noticed that her apartment lightbulbs were now tinted yellow. She said that when she took a closer look, each of the lightbulbs were completely covered in pollen.

“There was so much of it," she said. 

Jobe said that during pollen season, those with allergies should stay indoors with the windows closed and air conditioning on, wear masks outside, and change clothes and shower after coming indoors to prevent bringing pollen inside.

“If measures such as those aren't sufficient, there are a number of very effective over-the counter-treatments,” he said. 

Kim also said that he advises individuals with allergies to prepare for allergy season in advance by starting medications early or taking allergy shots.

“Allergy shots are essentially a version of exposure therapy, so intentionally giving patients small amounts of what they're allergic to, the different pollen, but doing it in a controlled way that we can retrain the immune system to not be reactive, to not be allergic,” he said. 

Although allergy shots may be time consuming, they can be very effective at controlling symptoms, Kim said.

Jobe said that UNC Campus Health administers allergy shots for students throughout the school year with documentation from an allergist.

Students may not be able to click their heels three times and leave their pollen-coated campus behind, but, according to UNC Health officials, allergists and immunologists at UNC Medical Center have advanced training in identifying and treating all types of allergies and immunodeficiency disorders.

UNC Medical Center’s Allergy & Immunology clinic also offers many services to care for allergy, asthma and immunodeficiency disorders, such as allergy testing, immunotherapy, omalizumab injections and intravenous immunoglobulin therapy. 

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