In Waterbury Connecticut, the pollen count is more than 2,000 grains per cubic meter. For her mother, it has been a frightening one. Her mother called a pediatrician recently after Julianna lost her voice due to allergies. But with 35 million other Americans all coughing, wheezing, and scratching, just getting a doctor's appointment is difficult. Many doctors are extremely overloaded with allergy patients.
Doctors say that allergy drugs are also in short supply.
The pharmacists are as frazzled as the patients are. Everything is back ordered . . . At one New Jersey pharmacy, every third prescription is now for an allergy drug. Some scientists are not surprised. The US Department of Agriculture estimates the amount of ragweed pollen in the air may have doubled over the last 50 years, due in part, it says, to global warming.