A ‘‘powerful pollen season’’ is to blame for a spike in hay fever cases. Sufferers in the capital have been flocking to chemists and doctors’ surgeries to help ease the condition.

A ‘‘powerful pollen season’’ is to blame for a hay fever season that is bogging down many Wellingtonians.

Hay fever sufferers in the capital have been making beelines to chemists and doctors’ surgeries to help ease the condition’s annoying symptoms, which were being exacerbated by high pollen levels.

MetService’s pollen forecaster, retired associate professor Dr David Fountain, said – from all accounts – this summer’s hay fever outlook had been ‘‘particularly bad’’ thanks to the largely cool and rainy spring.

‘‘It’s been a particularly powerful pollen season – there’s no doubt about that.’’

This was because the grasses – which were the main inhalant allergens for New Zealand – got a slow start and didn’t flower until late October to mid November.

They ‘‘just burgeoned from there’’ with the onset of summery conditions, releasing vast amounts of pollen.

‘‘It’s like death and taxes in that it’s inevitable that we get this massive pollen cloud every year.

‘‘It’s just an inevitability and whether it’s bigger or smaller [than previous seasons] is almost incidental really, because people who are sensitised to it just suffer,’’ Fountain said.

While Wellington’s pollen count was ‘‘high’’, he expected hay fever symptoms to ease in the next few weeks as many of the grasses went to seed. ‘‘It is declining, but it’s still high and that affects anybody who has hay fever – they will be snuffling still. It will taper away, and although sensitised people respond pretty strongly to even low amounts of pollen, they will notice that there’s less irritation in the next few weeks and then it will taper away to almost nothing.’’

However, he did warn that fungal spores were ‘‘the next big challenge’’ which were likely to trigger another round of hay fever in late autumn and early winter.

The itchy, watery eyes, blocked or runny noses that come with hay fever were similar to the common cold – and just like that condition, there was no known cure.

While she was only treating one or two new cases each week, Dr Lesley Rothwell, of City GPs, believed people struck down in previous seasons were being affected ‘‘more severely than usual’’.

‘‘It can make you feel like you’ve been run over by a bus,’’ she said.

‘‘It can have quite significant systemic symptoms like fatigue, malaise – just not feeling well, as well as the runny nose and the itchy eyes.

‘‘All the people that know that they suffer from hay fever are ringing up for their repeat prescriptions.’’

The reason some people suffered the effects of hay fever, while others don’t can be put down to a case of ‘‘mistaken identity’’.

‘‘Our body thinks that maybe a parasite [is] trying to enter our body, but instead it’s just simply a pollen,’’ said Professor Franca Ronchese, of the Malaghan Institute of Medical Research.

This incorrect recognition triggers the production of histamine in hay fever sufferers, causing inflammation and symptoms.

Allergy New Zealand allergy adviser Penny Jorgensen said it was difficult to know exactly how many people were affected, but estimated it was about 30 per cent of the population.

‘‘Hay fever is probably the most common form of allergy . . . we have sort of had to base things where there have been studies done overseas and try to extrapolate that data to see what it might look like in New Zealand.’’

She said researchers had tried to get pollen count funding, but have struggled as the condition was ‘‘not regarded as a health priority’’.