Doha is in the midst of a late season dust storm at the moment. There has been dryer than usual weather recently in the gulf and this combined with Northerly winds has covered Qatar in dust. The dust is made up of tiny particles which cannot be seen without magnification and has reduced visibility to less than 1Km. The sun is pure white in colour due to the light scattering from the dust.
I woke up early this morning in a cold sweat and aching in every joint. It turns out I have an allergy to the dust which has covered the entire region, I’ve noticed I’m not at my best during a dust storm in the past but not like this. So I paid a visit to the pharmacy this morning and got some antihistamine capsules. It’s now 2 hours later and I’m beginning to feel human again, if a bit sleepy.
I went digging on the net about the dust storms and came up with the following story in the Gulf News from the UAE, it made me feel better knowing I’m not unusual with some strange disease.
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From the Gulf News: “The dust storm that blew across the UAE came from the borders of Iran-Iraq and in all probability carried illnesses from the place of its origin. Hay fever is the common illness that accompanies dust storms. This is because hay fever is seasonal and occurs in dusty conditions. In this the patients not only suffer from allergies but also run a temperature. In normal allergies, the patients do not have fever. By far the best advice one could give to those who suffer from dust allergies is to stay indoors and try not to venture out as far as possible,” said Dr Mohammad. |