Completed by independent aerobiologist, Dilys Berman, this research will enable allergy sufferers to better plan their allergy control regimes, based on expected allergen spikes.
Berman, who practices as an independent aerobiologist to produce pollen counts for Cape Town’s health care professionals, has been identifying pollen and fungal spores for 30 years.
She has now completed a regional study which highlights the plants that could provoke the onset of itchy and runny eyes, blocked noses, painful sinuses and frequent outbursts of sneezing that plague allergy sufferers.
Berman believes this new nationwide research will help broaden her reach and assist health care professionals around the whole country.
“Most South Africans are mistakenly under the impression that pollen-related allergies are only experienced during spring and summer. However, such is our country’s variety of plants – trees, grasses and weeds – that flower and pollen production is a continuous phenomenon.
“Knowledge of what is producing pollen, where, and when, can go a long way to assist allergy sufferers plan their treatment schedules and assist alleviate their symptoms. I’ve been helping sufferers in the Western Cape by making this type of information available through health professionals in Cape Town for some time now.
“With the completion of my regional study, I’m now able to offer my expertise and assistance countrywide, and hope it will help so many more allergy sufferers, especially those who are plagued with symptoms during the spring months of September, October and November in this country.”
While Gauteng is the only one of South Africa’s provinces in which pollen can be found year round – it has so many different trees flowering at different times that there’s pollen in the air every month – many others get respite for just a few months of the year.
During the spring months, however, all provinces in South Africa experience high pollen counts. Chief among the culprits are the weeds (daisy and dandelion being the most prevalent and widely spread), the trees (Plane, Kareeboom and Acacia) and grasses (including food crops such as maize and rye).
Referring to the regional pollen chart created by Berman, allergy suffers will be able to see that trees are the major reasons for pollen in Gauteng and Mpumulanga, for example, whereas Free Staters and those living in the Western Cape have to contend with pollen from trees, weeds and grasses during the spring months of the year.
“One of the learnings allergy sufferers can take from the research is that, as the months warm up, there’s definitely many more different types of pollen about in all the provinces, so it would be best to plan a strategy for combating the symptoms,” said Berman.
“Also, if you were an allergy sufferer who lived in the relatively pollen-free Mpumalanga but was planning on travelling through or to the Free State, the Western Cape or even Gauteng, you’d know to stock up on your allergy medication before leaving home.”
Although allergies are rarely life-threatening, they often cause lost work days, decreased work efficiency, poor school performance, and can negatively impact the sufferer’s quality of life causing itchy eyes and nasal passages, persistent sneezing episodes and even sleep disturbances, such as trouble in going to sleep or awakening during the night.
An estimated 20–30 % of the adult population in the western world is affected by allergic rhinitis, otherwise known as hayfever. According to some sources 1 out of 5 children is sensitive to inhalant common allergens such as pollens from trees, grasses, and weeds; dust mites, animal dander, cockroaches, and mould; and wood dust and chemicals. Other sources estimate over 40 % of children suffer from this condition.2
For some allergy sufferers, symptoms may be seasonal, but for others they produce year-round discomfort. Symptom control is most successful when multiple approaches are used simultaneously to manage the allergy, according to Allergic Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma (ARIA) guidelines published in 2003 and updated in 2008.3, 4
These guidelines were the first to recommend an international approach to the treatment of hayfever whereby first line treatment of the symptoms consists of three steps:
1. Oral or intranasal antihistamines with limited use of decongestant medication for mild intermittent symptoms
2. Oral or intranasal antihistamines or intranasal steroid sprays with limited use of decongestants for moderate-to-severe intermittent symptoms
Berman’s research is being supported by Adcock Ingram’s allergy solution, Allergex® Non Drowsy, as the brand recognises the importance of equipping the consumer with knowledge about when, where and why they may suffer with allergy symptoms.
Allergex® Non Drowsy Tablets and Allergex® Non Drowsy Syrup are indicated for the relief of symptoms associated with seasonal hayfever such as sneezing, blocked or runny nose, and itchy nose and throat, as well as for the relief of allergic skin conditions.
Allergex® Non Drowsy Tablets can be taken – one, daily – by adults while the Allergex® Non Drowsy Syrup may be used from 2 years of age.
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