An allergist at Loyola's Gottlieb Memorial Hospital has warned that Chicago's mold count is dangerously high, the highest in five years.

The city's mold count is 49,789, the highest of the season, and is a few spores away from the 50,000 threshold that signals a dangerous air quality warning, says Dr. Joseph Leija.

Leija says in a statement, "Headaches, sinus congestion, runny noses and fatigue will be common among Chicagoans."

Rain, hot weather, barometric pressure change and humidity all have combined to create the dangerously high mold count, says Leija, certified by the National Allergy Bureau to perform the daily official allergy count for the Midwest.

Leija advises allergy sufferers to stay indoors, keep their windows closed, use air conditioners and take their allergy medications.

However, the allergy count is for the outside air alone and warns those hit by flooding of homes and businesses last month may have indoor air quality that is even worse, he further adds.

WGN-TV, Chicago, has reported that since June 1, 19.01 inches of rain has fallen at Midway International Airport in Chicago, more than twice the normal 8.13 inches - while at O'Hare International Airport the tally is 15.29 inches, about twice that site's 7.64-inch normal rainfall. (With Inputs from Agencies)