Thursday’s sunny weather and high pollen count did more than just increase business at the University Health Center.
After handing out nearly 50 bottles of Opcon-A, an over-the-counter eye drop for allergies, the health center’s pharmacy ran out of its supply May 31. But the allergy medicine was restocked Friday morning, before many people realized there was a shortage.
Julie Dewsnup, the pharmacy manager at the health center, said even though the pharmacy ran out of the drug, few people were stranded. She said because Opcon-A is an over-the-counter product, customers simply switched to another brand or went to a drugstore to find it.
“We went through massive quantities,” she said. “But people still had options.”
Dewsnup said that although they try to keep a supply of 50-100 bottles of Opcon-A on the shelf, it is possible the health center could run out of allergy medicines again. She said the weather plays a big role in triggering people’s allergies.
“Allergies are a tough thing to predict,” she said. “You can’t tell from one day to the next if it’s going to be rainy or sunny.”
Dewsnup said Eugene’s grass pollen count was very high last week. “The weather and the grass pollen just soared last week,” she said.
Pat McCormick, the health center’s medical records supervisor, said about 275 patients suffering from allergies visited the health center last week. She said this is a higher number of patients than the health center has had in past weeks, but overall she does not think it is unusual for this time of year.
“I don’t think this number is different from past years,” she said.
McCormick also said weather is a significant factor in making people sick.
“This week the numbers will probably drop off because we’ve had the rain,” she said.
Dr. Gerald Fleischli, the director of the health center, said running out of allergy medicine is not that serious a problem for the health center because it can reorder deliveries every day. He said this is nothing like last winter’s shortage of the flu vaccine.
“With allergies it’s a very short-term thing,” he said. “Last week was a really bad week for allergies.”