A-chooo!
Like any plant, ragweed — the sneeze-inducing, sinus-blocking, fever-causing allergen — thrives on rainfall. And as New Hampshire and Maine have experienced at least a dozen more inches of rainfall than is typical for this time of the year, the fall ragweed season projects to be harsher than usual.
“It’s analogous to corn,” said Dr. Paul Ratner, medical director for Sylvana Research, a Texas-based clinical research firm. “It needs a lot of rain in the spring and summer. That would bode well for ragweed to grow.”
There has indeed been a lot of rain this year. According to Meteorologist Jim Hayes at the National Weather Service office in Gray, Maine, 37.77 inches of rain has been recorded in Concord so far this year. The average amount for this time of the year is 23.35 inches.
Between 10 percent and 20 percent of Americans suffer from ragweed allergies, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. People develop an adverse reaction to the pollen of ragweed plants such as sage, sunflowers, marigolds, rabbit brush and goldenrods. The ragweed season starts in mid-August and lasts through September. Pollen counts usually peak in early September.
Symptoms include eye irritation, sneezing, runny nose, itchy throat and exacerbated asthma. Antihistamines and nasal steroids have traditionally been used to treat ragweed allergies, though a new product developed by the Prestige Brands company is now being offered as a preventative measure.
The product, Allergen Block, is a gel applied to the inside of the nose containing a positive electrostatic charge to attract the negative charges of pollen, neutralizing its side effects.
By itself, ragweed is usually never fatal; rather, it is more of a quality-of-life issue that can put a damper on sufferers’ end-of-summer plans, Ratner said. Ragweed can, however, contribute to deadly complications from asthma. Asthma is responsible for 5,000 deaths a year, Ratner said.
The incidence of ragweed allergies may be increasing due to global warming, though Ratner said concrete data is sparse.
The biggest factor in determining ragweed levels is rainfall — he said Texas experienced high rainfall levels last summer and then went on to have a harsh ragweed season in the fall. He projected the same for New Hampshire given the increased rainfall.
Officials from Wentworth-Douglass Hospital could not be reached to comment on what kind of ragweed season they were expecting.
The season has already started, according to pollen counters from the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology. Data from the organization’s bureau in Salem, Mass. — the closest to New Hampshire — indicated there is currently a moderate concentration of pollen in the air.
The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of American recommends a number of preventive measures, including staying indoors between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., when pollen levels are the highest, taking antihistamines and nasal sprays, and getting allergy shots.
Ragweed plants are most commonly found in the Midwest and eastern part of the country. Pollen from the plants has shown to be resilient — it has been measured 400 miles out to sea and 2 miles up in the atmosphere, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation.
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