Achoo! Utahns get allergy alert

As seasonal allergies go, 2004 is shaping up to be a whopper, with three times more pollen than flew around last year at this time.

To date — and the season's far from over — folks along the Wasatch Front have seen twice the pollen that was found for the entire season in 2003.

And that's nothing compared to tree pollen counts, said Carol Maw, spokeswoman for Intermountain Allergy and Asthma. During last year's tree season, the pollen count was 200 or higher a total of six times. Just through April 28 of this year, the pollen count has topped 300 19 times and climbed above 1,000 six times. Counts are at their highest total in at least a decade. Achoo!

That's translated into more sick people going in to see allergy specialists, hoping to find relief.

Maw thinks water — or its lack — plays a huge role in what happens to pollen counts the next year. So does vegetation disease. Healthy trees seem to create less pollen than those that are struggling.

Maw said she's been watching the elm trees struggle.

"When you look at them, there is very little vegetation and a number are dead. All they have is seeds. They produce the seeds in an attempt to preserve the species, and with all the energy into making the seeds, there's not enough left to make life in the tree," she said.

"It's a stress response. The elm count is the highest I've ever seen, and I also see more sick and dying elm trees," which means more allergy symptoms, Maw said.

Trees serve a lot of beneficial roles, including filtering and cleaning air. They help moderate temperature. And trees that are unhealthy don't do those tasks well, she said.

The good news is that trees' pollen season tapers off very soon. The bad news is that grass becomes a problem, and grass allergy symptoms can be very severe, Maw said. With the nice wet weather we've had, "we sometimes get a second grass season in the fall at about the time weeds are also kicking up misery."

Grass doesn't produce as much pollen as trees, but the severity of symptoms can be worse.

"You can't just go by the numbers," Maw said.

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E-mail: lois@desnews.com