ET ISSUE 2215 Monday 18 June 2001

Hay fever filters are not to be sniffed at By Michael Fleet

THE ultra-sensitive nose of the hay fever sufferer could be about to find the relief it craves in the shape of a tiny air filter for each nostril.

The new British device about to go on sale is claimed to ease the annual torment of hay fever by filtering out pollen before it can invade the airways and wreak summer misery.

The Hay Fever Guard has been developed by a former forensic pathologist who was inspired to seek a cure after watching a friend's agony as he tried to eat an egg sandwich. Adrian Soper said: "It took him an hour and a half because he could not eat and breathe at the same time. I thought there had to be some way to help people like that."

He first devised a mask that went over the whole nose. That has been modified during four years of development to become a plastic clip placed under the nose with a filter for each nostril. In tests, he claims that there has been a 100 per cent success rate in reducing or eliminating symptoms.

It has been tested by 120 people, including Michelle Morby, 31, from Redruth, Cornwall, who said it had transformed her life. She said: "I have been using this for three weeks and have not sneezed once in that time." Mr Soper, of Truro, said: "We hope to have it in shops within 28 days."

-- Anonymous, June 17, 2001

Answers

And if you sneeze.........where does the "filter" end up???? hehhehe

-- Anonymous, June 17, 2001

I thought another name for a hay fever filter was nose hair.

-- Anonymous, June 18, 2001