The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) has urged patients with hayfever to visit their pharmacist, in response to figures that reveal the number of cases has doubled since last year.

Nearly 12,000 patients visited a GP practice in England and Wales in the second week of June because of hayfever symptoms or allergic rhinitis, a "mammoth" 114 per cent increase on the same period last year, according to estimates by the RCGP's research and surveillance centre.

Some persistent cases of hayfever may be severe enough to require seeing a GP but most patients should consider visiting a pharmacy instead, RCGP chair Maureen Baker said on Monday (June 23).

Most patients should consider visiting a pharmacy for hayfever relief unless their symptoms are severe, the RCGP has recommended	More on hayfever In depth: Five retail trends you should understand Category Focus: Capitalise on the allergies boom Update: All about allergic rhinitis
	"Hayfever is awful but the discomfort should only be temporary and there should be no long-term effects. There are many antihistamine medications that can be bought over the counter at your pharmacist that should provide effective relief," Dr Baker said.

Hayfever normally develops in school-age children during their teenage years and these patient groups were more likely to visit a GP than use over-the-counter treatments, the RCGP said.

Mid-June "traditionally marks the start of hayfever season", the RCGP said. It noted a three-fold increase in the number of cases of hayfever and allergic rhinitis between the first and second weeks of June, based on sample of GP practices and patients.

Grass pollen is the most common cause of hayfever and tends to affect people between May and July, the RCGP said. Tree pollen normally affects sufferers between March and May, while the effects of weed pollens are felt between early spring and early autumn, it added.

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