ALLERGY SUFFERERS LIKELY IN FOR IRRITATING SEASON

En garde, allergy sufferers: the ragweed pollen is about to blow.

And one Cape Girardeau allergist says it appears you're in for one tough battle this season with that pollen, a chief cause of hay fever.

The allergist, Dr. Robert F. Sacha, has already received a report from the front. The report came a few days ago in a phone call with his brother, Dan, who lives outside of Chicago.

Sacha said the area gets hit by ragweed pollen about four or five days earlier than Southeast Missouri. His brother, who is very sensitive to ragweed (Sacha calls him his "barometer"), was miserable.

"When I call Dan and he's miserable I can always tell it's going to be bad," Sacha said. "It's going to be a bumper ragweed crop; it's going to be a tough time for a lot of people."

Sacha said allergists, people who do pollen counts and aerobiologists are all predicting a bad ragweed season.

"With the wet spring and the hot summer, it's going to be a bad year. Plus," he said, "the mold count along with the ragweed, it's just going to be sky high."

The ragweed pollen season normally starts about the second week of August and runs until the first frost, said Sacha.

Ragweed stands 4 to 7 feet high, he said, and is usually found growing along ditches and railroad tracks. The plant's pollen is very light, and wind borne can travel 50 to 100 miles, said Sacha.

Another allergist at Doctors' Park, Dr. Jean Chapman, said the ragweed here has begun to pollinate. But a count the other day, he said, showed the area's pollen level was still low.

Chapman and his wife have an American Academy of Allergy and Immunology air sampling station atop one of the science buildings at Southeast Missouri State University. The Chapmans' station is one of 34 academy sampling stations across the country, said Sarah Kaluzny, director of communications for the academy in Milwaukee, Wis.

Chapman said the samples are taken by a rotorod collector or intermittent impaction collector that runs 24 hours per day. The collector has a small plastic rod on the end that spins at 2,400 revolutions per minute for 10 seconds every 15 minutes.

The station recorded the pollen the other day at an average level of nine grains per cubic meter of air each 24 hours, Chapman said.

"The ragweed is beginning to go. It will get high eventually. Around here the average is about 300 (grains). A high would be about 600," he said.

No one really knows how bad the ragweed levels will be this year, said Chapman. There are no known ways to actually predict it, he said.

Since the weather is now warm and dry, he said, the possibility exists for heavy levels of ragweed pollen this year. "But if it turns out cool and wet for the first several weeks in September then the pollination will probably be down," he said.

Kaluzny said the ragweed pollen probably will be active this season, if the grass and tree seasons earlier this year were any indications. The pollen in those seasons was active, she said.

Sacha said people this year have had allergy symptoms throughout the summer rather than in just the spring, a typical time along with the fall for allergies. He attributed this to extremely high mold counts because of this year's wet spring. Wet weather, he said, is very conducive to mold.

"I have seen people I haven't seen in three or four years, and all of the sudden they're back," Sacha said. "This year's like a real kick in the rear end to them."

Southeast Missouri, he said, is also notoriously bad for allergies because of all the farming and plant growth here. "Such a hot ... moist place; it's a great place for allergies," he said.

Kaluzny said she didn't believe the allergy seasons are worse this year than in past years. Instead, she said the public is more educated and aware of allergies. Weather patterns and a public more in tune with the environment, and how that environment affects them, might also be influencing people's perception of allergies, she said.

Sacha suggested people use common sense to avoid suffering so much from ragweed pollen this season. Windows should be kept closed and air conditioning should be used until the ragweed season is over with the first frost, he said. Usually, Sacha said, the pollen is worst from about 4 or 5 in the morning until noon.

Those suffering from allergies should try over-the-counter medications, he said. If they don't work, he said, see your doctor.

Sacha said he didn't want to suggest that people remain indoors. People can't limit their lives, he said. But he said, "If they know they have severe allergies, I wouldn't go out walking in the weeds."

When outdoors, however, it's no use to try to avoid the plants and their pollen, Sacha said. "It doesn't matter. You can get away from it as far as you want, but it will get to you."