Spring-time nuisance: Pollen allergy may be fatal if not treated

Health experts express concern over lack of specialists, government's apathy towards the issue.

ISLAMABAD: Pollen allergy must not be taken lightly, as mild symptoms may suddenly aggravate and cause death within 10 minutes,warn health experts. This spring, they expect high pollen concentration in the capital, albeit for a short duration.

Pollen allergy season usually begins around mid-February. However, according to Dr Muhammad Osman Yusuf, adviser to the World Health Organization (WHO) on Global Alliance against Respiratory Diseases (GARD) programme, the season will start a bit later than usual this year because of extended rains.

Dr Yusuf, who is also a faculty member of the World Allergy Organization, said that the peak season of the allergy will be between March 18 and 25, when the pollen count is expected to cross 50,000.

“Paper mulberry is one of the leading causes for the spread of pollen allergy in the capital,” the WHO official told The Express Tribune. He blamed vested interest of some officials in the health ministry and some influential doctors for not allowing chopping down of the trees completely in the past.

“There is an acute shortage of pollen allergy specialists in the country and those available lack in-depth knowledge about it,” he said.“In Pakistan all types of allergies are treated similarly and the same medication is prescribed for them,” he added.

He said that immunotherapy, an internationally recognised vaccine, is extremely effective in the treatment of respiratory and other allergies.

Dr Yusuf expressed concern over the government’s apathy towards the issue and lack of interest in planning.

“In the pollen allergy camps, the medicines are donated either by pharmaceutical companies or the city’s leading chemists,” he added.

Shafiq Khan, a drug inspector, urged the government to allocate separate budget for provision of sufficient medicines at pollen allergy camps so that they do not have to rely on donors.

“We hire health service providers from basic health units (BHUs) to work at these camps. They are not paid a single penny for this added burden,” he regretted.

He also said that patients suffering from other ailments such as tuberculosis crowd the camps because they do not know what the camp is for.

Dr Athar Rana, a senior consultant at Shifa International Hospital, informed The Express Tribune that the number of pollen allergy patients has increased with the growth of population in the capital.

“The construction activities coupled with the increase in  the number of swine flu cases have made people more vulnerable to allergy,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 26^th, 2011.