Tablet costing just 36p could protect hay fever sufferers from UK pollen bomb

A drug costing just 36p could bring relief to the millions of Brits suffering from hay fever. According to the NHS, hay fever is a common allergic condition when people react to pollen.

It affects up to one in five people at some point in their life, meaning more than 10 million Brits will endure symptoms ranging from sneezing and coughing, to itchy eyes and a blocked nose. But help may be at hand. Speaking on BBC's Morning Live, Dr Ranj Singh explained what people could do to ease symptoms. And with experts predicting an incoming pollen bomb for the UK, the timing could not be better.

Fexofenadine is an antihistamine medicine that helps with the symptoms of allergies. As well as hay fever, it is used to tackle conjunctivitis, eczema and some food allergies.

"Fexofenadine is usually available on prescription and now is available over the counter," Dr Ranj said. "It is very helpful for a lot of people but remember, it can be taken by anyone over the age of six but you can’t drink orange, apple or grapefruit juice while you are taking it because it can increase your risk of side-effects including headaches, drowsiness, dry mouth, nauseous or dizziness.

"People with certain conditions like liver, kidney or heart problems and epilepsy shouldn't take it either."

Unfortunately, he described the idea of trying local honey to tackle hay fever as nothing more than an 'old wives' tale'. He said there was no evidence to back that up - but he did recommend some other things that could bring relief.

He said: "Classically, anti-histamine eye drops, sprays and tablets tend to calm down the ellagic reaction in the upper way. Ideally, try and start them a few weeks before pollen season starts, they tend to be a bit more effective.

"Moving on to slightly stronger sprays, steroid nasal sprays are really good. They are stronger than anti-histamines but they do take a bit of time to work. You can get combined anti-histamine steroid nasal sprays. Again, try to start them earlier as they take a bit of time to work.

"If you are still struggling, speak to your GP. We can sometimes proscribe stronger antihistamines or stronger cortisol steroids or even a treatment called immunotherapy, where we inject a bit of pollen under the skin and that desensitises you. Again, that has to be started months before hay fever season begins."

They say that prevention is better than cure, so Dr Ranj also gave his tips on how to avoid being struck down by hay fever in the first place. This involves limiting how much contact you have with pollen.

His tips included avoiding freshly cut grass, not spending too much time outside when the pollen count was high, and also keeping an eye on the pollen forecast. He also said: "Try and stop the pollen getting to those places in the first place. Wraparound sunglasses, some people find wearing a mask helps stopping it get into the nose and mouth, wide-brimmed hat to stop it settling on your face and hair. Putting some petroleum jelly on the inside of your nostrils. What does that do? It traps the pollen that gets inside your nostrils and makes it stick to those bits as opposed to going inside.

"If you are going outside, avoid doing it in the middle of the day when the pollen count tends to be higher. When you come back in, if you have been out for a long time, wash your clothes because they trap pollen and wash your hair because, again, pollen sticks to it. Keep windows and doors shut during the day time, vacuum regularly around the health and use a damp cloth for damp dusting.

"Cold compresses around the face and eyes are really nice, salt water rinses for your nose to rinse the pollen, pollen filters and obviously keep an eye on the pollen forecast."