Fall a challenging allergy season for Valley residents, health organization says

McALLEN — Isabel Garza and her four daughters suffer from allergies and asthma year-round. But it’s the fall and winter months in the Rio Grande Valley they dread the most.

“They usually don’t go out during the winter months because if they go outside they start coughing and they have to use the nebulizer,” said Garza, of Mission, after taking her children to McAllen allergist Dr. Maria Elena Falcon for their weekly immunotherapy treatments. “There’s something in the air.”

Seasonal allergies in the fall and winter can be particularly troublesome for Valley residents.

Earlier this month, the nonprofit Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America even ranked Greater McAllen No. 1 on its 2009 list of the nation’s 100 most challenging places to live with fall allergies. The rankings were for the 100 largest metro areas and were based on three key measures: pollen scores, number of allergy medications used per patient, and number of allergy specialists per patient.

Falcon questioned McAllen’s distinction, saying she doubted anyone was taking local pollen level scores, one of the key factors in the rankings. But she affirmed that allergy problems usually peak in the area during the fall.

“This area may seem worse because we don’t really have any winters,” she said. “Here, weeds and grasses grow most of the year. We may never get a freeze all winter.”

“August and September rains transition us from desert summer mode into fall-time tropical flush mode and everything starts growing like crazy,” said Dr. William McKenna, of the McKenna Allergy and Asthma Clinic in Harlingen. “There’s your fall-time pollination.”

McKenna said the Valley’s high wind gusts exacerbate the problem by whipping up pollen. The area’s humid weather most of the year also supports a higher concentration of dust mites indoors. Even with air conditioning, indoor temperatures remain a few degrees warmer than in more temperate regions.

Four other Texas metro areas also are among the top 25 on the allergy foundation’s ranking, with Austin at No. 24, Dallas at No. 13, El Paso at No. 19 and San Antonio at No. 12.

McAllen’s position at the top of the list owes in part to its scarcity of allergists, said Angel Waldron, a spokeswoman for the foundation.

Indeed, Falcon is Greater McAllen’s only allergist, which could mean many people are not getting proper advice and are “not developing a proper management plan with their allergists and are overmedicating,” Waldron said.

Dr. Joe Diaz, a San Antonio allergist, said making a self-diagnosis and trying over-the-counter medications for mild symptoms is OK as long as people are aware of the medicine’s side effects. Common symptoms are excessive runny nose, nasal congestion, sniffling and sneezing and red, itchy eyes.

“We don’t give allergies the respect of asthma or diabetes,” Diaz said. “But it’s one of the No. 1 health issues for children.”

If you suspect that you have seasonal or year-round allergies, Diaz recommended seeing a primary care physician who can confirm it through a blood or skin test.

____

Nick Pipitone covers McAllen and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4446.