The Worst Cities for Allergies This Fall

First posted on 09-03-2008

The Asthma and Allergy Foundation came out with their annual list of the worst American cities for allergy sufferers. One Ozarks city was in the top ten as was another city that lies near our region.

Little Rock came in at #3 on the list, moving up several notches from its ranking of 14th last year. Oklahoma City improved their position by dropping to the number 9 slot from being ranked third last year.

The foundation bases its list on several factors it considers important in making it a challenge to live in these cities during fall allergy season. Those factors include pollen levels, the amount of allergy medications residents purchase and the number of allergists on hand to help allergy sufferers.

Critics to the list say that other influential factors are missed by the study. Key among them is that airborne pollen is affected by the size of the bloom, wind direction, even the location of ragweed and other allergens in a given city.