Ah-choo! Linn County to use social media for pollen alerts

It's that time of year for allergy sufferers.

Efforts under way at Linn County Public Health are aimed at getting the word out - not only on daily pollen counts for people with hay fever - but on other matters that affect the health of the county's residents.

Deputy Director Stephanie Neff said the department is gearing up to use Facebook, Twitter and other means to communicate with the public.

The push comes as health officials prepare for a possible resurgence of H1N1 flu this fall.

“We want to get (information) out in as many formats as we can,” Neff said. “We're going to try to keep the public as informed as possible.”

Though tweets and Facebook have not started, the department has already been sending e-mail alerts on pollen counts.

For example, the ragweed count Wednesday was in the moderate range at 39 and other pollens at 16, for a total pollen count of 55, considered high.

ON THE NET

ON THE NET

Linn County Public Health: www.linncleanair.org/

To sign up for Linn County's daily pollen counts, go to: www.linncleanair.org/News/Email-Notification.aspx

In Johnson County, University Hygienic Laboratory collects pollen readings from across the state, with information reported to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: www.crh.noaa.gov/dmx

An estimated 36 million Americans suffer from seasonal allergies, known as hay fever.

Pollen released by ragweed is the airborne allergen most responsible for the sneezing, itchy, watery eyes and other symptoms they suffer.

Jim Fawcett, field agronomist for Iowa State University Extension in Johnson County, said he hasn't noticed a surge in ragweed this year, though rain tends to promote weed growth in general.

Forecasts in Cedar Rapids and Iowa City call for pollen to be in the medium-high range Saturday and Sunday before dropping to medium on Monday.