Something To Sneeze At

     By Warren Bates
     Review-JournalMarch is not a good time of year for Janet Cole.
      The shift manager at O'Shea's casino already suffers from allergies to chocolate, grass, citrus and perfume. So when the Las Vegas Valley recently hit record levels for mulberry pollen, the watery-eyed Cole, tissues in hand, sought out a specialist for relief.
      "It's amazing," she said of her symptoms. "It's not just one thing like a headache; there's mood changes and changes in skin texture."
      Cole, like many Clark County residents, has been wheezing and sniffling through the beginning of a six-week pollen season that has shattered records.
      Pollen levels dropped Monday to a fraction of what they were last week, when records set in 1996 were broken, but air pollution officials said high winds may be responsible.
      "It seems to be quite a bit worse this year," said Richard Alexander, director of the Allergy Elimination Clinic on Eastern Avenue. "I've seen a lot of people in very serious shape."
      He described symptoms ranging from the commonplace -- constriction of nasal passages, sneezing and coughing -- to the extreme -- one woman came in with welts covering much of her body.
      The records for mulberry pollen levels were set March 17. The Clark County Health District reported that the Griffith Elementary School site near the Meadows Mall reached 59,681 grains per cubic meter of air. That surpassed by 33 percent the highest reading of 1996.
      By Wednesday the reading at Griffith had dropped to 26,314 grains and on Monday it was down to about 7,000.
      Still, a reading above 1,000 is considered "extremely high."
      "They should have a new category called dangerously high," said Jeanette Londegran, an allergy technician at the Allergy Institute of Nevada.
      "I've never seen it this high," Londegran said. "People who had taken shots in the past and were doing really well -- even they're coming in needing a little something."
      Londegran said the pollen combined with other unhealthful living factors increases "the total load factor" on the human body.
      "Maybe we could tolerate the pollen if it weren't for the air pollution and stress in our lives," she said.
      On Monday, the highest mulberry reading was at Baskin Park at 11,481 grains. Though the Griffith reading was slightly less than 7,000, air pollution officials said that doesn't mean the area could not become more saturated in the coming week.
      Femi Durosenmi, supervisor for air quality monitoring for the Clark County Air Pollution Control District, said windy conditions at recording sites often affect readings. The irritant is not necessarily less prevalent, it simply blows to areas where monitoring equipment is not located.
      "The season lasts approximately six weeks and that's the end of it," Durosenmi said, adding that once the serious mulberry bloom is over, the valley will experience heavy pollen from olive trees.
      Alexander, who uses acupressure to treat people, said those who are acutely sensitive should wear a protective dust mask if they absolutely have to be outside.
      "Either that or get out of town," he said jokingly.