RAGWEED TAKES SEASONAL TOLL ON SUFFERERS

Residents of the mid-Mississippi and Ohio valleys can look forward to runny noses, sinus headaches and other symptoms brought on by an increase in ragweed pollen.

Ragweed begins blooming in mid-August and continues releasing hay-fever-promoting pollen until a fall frost.

"It causes fits of sneezing, congestion, and some people wheeze and have asthma," said Dr. Jean Chapman, a Cape Girardeau physician who specializes in allergies and immunology. "The number of patients with these symptoms increases during this time."

Pollen from trees, weeds and grasses always are in the air along with mold spores. Chapman said it is during the next few weeks that ragweed pollen becomes plentiful and plays havoc with people allergic to it.

Chapman's wife, Nona Nan Chapman, counts microscopic traces of mold and pollen she collects from rods kept on the roof of Magill Hall at Southeast Missouri State University. She makes her way to the roof of Magill every morning to collect the rods, which are coated with a silicone grease. They spin for 17 minutes every hour, collecting pollen and mold floating in the air.

She analyzes the rods under a microscope in her basement, counting the grains of tree, weed and grass pollen and the number of mold spores. "It takes a good hour," she said.

The numbers then are tallied and sent to Harvard University where they are tabulated with other pollen and mold counts taken from around the country.

Mold typically is in the thousands, and most days the pollen count doesn't make it to 100, based on the number of spores or grains of pollen per cubic meter of air.

She said the amount of ragweed pollen in the air over the next few weeks will approach and possibly surpass 100 because of the hot, dry weather. That will make life miserable for many allergy sufferers, said her husband.

"But there's a lot someone can do before going to see the doctor," he said. "We have all kinds of nasal sprays and anti-inflammatory medications for these symptoms. There also are a bevy of antihistamines."

They said rain would provide relief from the ragweed pollen until the first frost hits.