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Last spring, the American Foundation Against Asthma and Allergies released a report that said Springfield was the most difficult metropolitan area to live with asthma in the United States.
This year, the nonprofit ranked the city as the fifth most difficult spring allergy country behind McAllen, Texas; Jackson, Mississippi; Providence, Rhode Island; and Memphis, Tennessee.
The ranking has been attributed in the AAFA Annual Spring Allergy Capital Report, which "provides information on the 100 metropolitan cities where people are most affected by spring allergies".
"Spring allergies can cause a lot of misery to millions of people in the United States," said Kenneth Mendez, president and chief executive officer of the AFOA, in a statement.
"Our Spring Allergy Capital Report highlights cities facing the most challenges due to high pollen counts, intensive use of anti-allergic medications, and poor access to allergies for allergy sufferers." specialized care. "
Springfield's position in a similar ranking of asthma capitals last May is cited in highlighting the capitals of allergy by organizing within a special graphical box called "Extreme Capitals".
The box says: "Every year, many cities show up in the capitals of allergy on a number of occasions, but we have noticed a few that are in the top 10 of our allergy and These cities may be even more problematic for allergies and asthma. If pollen is an asthma trigger for you, take the extra precautions (shown below) to protect yourself in these cities. "
Springfield's other competitors include Louisville, Kentucky, ranked 5th in the list of 2018 Asthma Capitals and No. 6 in the allergy capitals list of the spring of 2019, and Richmond, Va. ° 2 in the list of Capitals of Asthma in 2018, and No. 10 in the list of allergy capitals of 2019.
McAllen has been named as the best allergy capital with above-average pollen, above-average drug use and reduced availability for board-certified allergists the three "important factors" discussed in the report.
Cities ranked below Springfield in the list of spring allergy capitals include Louisville, Kentucky; New Orleans, Louisiana; Scranton, Pennsylvania; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and Richmond, Virginia.
The report explains its seasonal spring pollen score as a "complete index" obtained by the AAFA of "the population at risk of being affected by airborne allergen pollen derived from the actual number of pollen, prevalence of allergy for each type of pollen and factors recent allergy season in spring (spring 2018). "
With regard to the use of drugs, the AFOA has obtained the number of allergen prescriptions per prevalence per patient for the last season of spring allergies (spring 2018), which also includes over-the-counter and over-the-counter allergy medications. sale at the counter of the pharmacy. "
In the third category of allergy specialists, the AFOA "got the number of prevalent allergologists / immunologists certified by the board per patient".
For each factor, the report explains that AAFA "used the latest data available over 12 months, weights are applied to each factor, the factors are not weighted equally, the total scores are calculated as a composite of the three factors and the cities are ranked from the highest total score (city rank 1) to the lowest total score (city rank 100). "
Springfield, which earned a total score of 78.76 for spring pollen and drug use and the average for allergists, ranked behind Providence in Rhode Island as the second city Northeast for spring allergies in the report.
The city with the lowest score in the report was Denver, Colorado.
Only San Jose, California and Rochester, New York, scored above average for the number of board certified allergists per patient on the Spring Allergy Capitals list.
The report indicates that the ranking is based on the analysis of data from the 100 most populated metropolitan statistical areas in the 48 contiguous states.
The AAFA is a non-profit organization founded in 1953 and describes itself as "the leading patient organization for people with asthma and allergy, and the oldest group of patients suffering from Asthma and allergy to the world.
It is estimated that 50 million Americans have seasonal nasal allergies and that 25 million have been diagnosed with asthma.
The AFOA recommendations for pollen reduction steps to be taken during the "days when pollen is high for the trees or grass to which you are allergic" are as follows:
· Limit outdoor activities
· Keep windows closed
· Use central air conditioning with air filtration
· Wear sunglasses when you're outside
· Wear a hat to cover your hair
· Take a shower and shampoo before going to bed to eliminate pollen.
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