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Clinton: Allergy led to my Situation Room photo

An allergy and not anguish may explain why Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had her hand to her mouth while watching the commando operation to kill Osama bin Laden, she said on Thursday.
Image: President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, along with with members of the national security team, receive an update on the mission against Osama bin Laden in the Situation Room of the White House.
"Those were 38 of the most intense minutes," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said of the scene in the Situation Room of the White House during the mission against Osama bin Laden on May 1. Clinton is in the room with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, along with with members of the national security team.Pete Souza / The White House
/ Source: msnbc.com staff and news service reports

An allergy and not anguish may explain why Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had her hand to her mouth while watching the commando operation to kill Osama bin Laden, she said on Thursday.

A photo of Clinton, President Barack Obama and other senior officials watching the operation live from the White House situation room has become one of the most striking images of the raid that killed the al-Qaida leader.

The photo shows Clinton with her hand to her mouth in what looks like a gesture of anxiety over the outcome of the operation.

"Those were 38 of the most intense minutes. I have no idea what any of us were looking at that particular millisecond when the picture was taken," she said on Thursday when asked about the photo during a visit to Rome.

"I am somewhat sheepishly concerned that it was my preventing one of my early spring allergic coughs. So it may have no great meaning whatsoever," Clinton added.

With the recent heavy rains and fluctuating temperatures, there's been a prolonged pollen release this spring, said Dr. S. Michael Phillips, director of Allergy and Immunology at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. The Washington, D.C. area -- considered one of the toughest areas in the country for spring allergy sufferers -- is currently experiencing a high pollen count, particularly from oak, hickory and walnut trees, according to the National Allergy Bureau.

Coughing from allergies can be caused by post-nasal drip, which irritates the throat. In others, allergies can trigger asthma which leads to coughing and wheezing.

About 35 million Americans have seasonal allergies, or hay fever, the Asthma and Allergy Foundation reports.

Reuters and msnbc.com contributor Linda Carroll contributed to this report.