Ragweed pollen counts appear to have peaked in early September this year, nearly a month later than usual. H. James Wedner, chief of the division of allergy and immunology, comments on what this means for allergy sufferers in this article by Tina Hesman of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Allergy season is a late starter this year: It’s happening now
(Republished with permission from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. This article originally ran in the Science & Medicine section on Friday, September 10, 2004)
By Tina Hesman
Of the Post-Dispatch
Fall is in the air. And it’s enough to make your nose and eyes itch.
Clear, blue skies and warm, dry weather are lovely, but getting out now is not wise for people with some allergies.
“The beautiful weather is beautiful,” said Dr. H. James Wedner, chief of the division of allergy and immunology at Washington University School of Medicine. “But if you suffer from ragweed allergies, beauty is only in the eye of the beholder. It’s not in the nose of the beholder.”
Ragweed holds virtually no aesthetic charm. Even insects don’t pollinate such an ugly plant, Wedner said. Ragweed looses its pollen on the wind to lodge where it may.
The nesting place may be people’s noses, eyes, ears and other mucus membranes. About 15 percent to 20 percent of the population will have a problem with that, said Dr. Mitchell H. Friedlaender, head of the Division of Ophthalmology at the Scripps Clinic in La Jolla, Calif.
When allergens such as ragweed pollen, animal dander or mold spores hit the membranes of people with allergies, special immune cells, called mast cells, are fooled into thinking the body is under attack, Friedlaender said. The mast cells release allergy-inducing substances, such as histamines and cytokines, which cause inflammation and itching and call in other immune cells to fight the offending allergen.
Drugs, such as antihistamines, steroids and new allergy-fighting medicines, may provide relief from the symptoms, he said. But ragweed is one of the most powerful allergy-producing substances, Friedlaender said. And that’s bad news, because the weed is in full bloom.
“Anyone who’s allergic to ragweed pollen will be suffering right now,” said Robert Nicolotti, manager of the Environmental Health Laboratories at the St. Louis County Department of Health.
Nicolotti and his crew are responsible for collecting petroleum-jelly-slicked slides from a pollen and spore trap each morning and warning allergy sufferers what to expect that day.
On Tuesday, technicians counted 134 ragweed pollen grains per cubic meter of air. More than 50 pollen grains in that volume of air is considered high and will provoke allergy symptoms in almost everyone who is sensitive to ragweed. The good news is that ragweed counts appear to have peaked on Tuesday and are now sliding backward. On Thursday, the count was 65 pollen grains per cubic meter of air, Nicolotti said.
Ragweed season usually peaks in mid-August, Nicolotti said, but this season started later than usual.
“It tricked us,” said Wedner. “We thought it was going to be a mild season, but now we’re in the middle of September and the ragweed counts are high.”
The only escape from the dreaded weed pollen is behind air-conditioned doors, experts say.
Weeds aren’t the only culprits in making allergy sufferers miserable this season. Mold spores are also on a high during the fall. Crops ready for harvest may sprout fungus when rains fall. Soil and leaves are mold breeding grounds too.
And even the great indoors may offer little respite for people with mold allergies. Refrigerator drip pans, damp spaces behind dressers, dryers vented indoors, showers and window condensation may all harbor molds, Nicolotti said. He recommends keeping indoor humidity low, eliminating drips, circulating air with fans, and running exhaust fans whenever people cook, do laundry or shower.
Ragweed season should end with the first hard frost, Nicolotti said, but mold is nearly forever. In the winter, mold counts may dip to 100 – a problem for only the most sensitive allergy sufferers – but the fungi persist year-round, sometimes reaching up to 100,000 spores per cubic meter of air in the moist summer.
People who are interested in the daily pollen and mold counts may call 314-615-6825 or log on to the St. Louis County Department of Health’s Pollen and Mold Center Web site at www.stlouisco.com/doh/pollen/. See an allergist if allergy symptoms trouble you, Wedner recommends.
Reporter Tina Hesman
E-mail: thesman@post-dispatch.com
Phone: 314-340-8325
Copyright 2004 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Inc.