Feeling the grip of the big drip

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Feb. 3, 2006, 1:33AM

Feeling the grip of the big drip

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/3633100.html

By LEIGH HOPPER

Houston Chronicle

Abnormally warm weather has pine trees pollinating earlier than

usual. Mold spore counts are sky high. Sustained dry weather has

sent Austin's notorious " cedar fever " creeping southeast. To top it

off, we're still in the throes of cold and flu season.

Whose nose isn't running?

But identifying the main culprit behind the misery is tricky. Kelsey-

Seybold Clinic allergist Dr. Sandberg thinks University of

Texas graduates may be at special risk.

That's because cedar pollen — which showed up last week on the city

of Houston's pollen count Web site — is common in Central Texas, but

atypical for Houston. Most people who grow up here don't get enough

exposure to cedar to develop an allergy to it, Sandberg said. But

Houstonians originally from Austin, or who attended college there,

may have developed a sensitivity.

Other experts blame it on the usual suspects, infectious microbes.

" There are a tremendous number of reasons the nose runs, but at this

time of the year, most of it is going to be viral, " said Dr.

Katz, of Medical Center Ear, Nose and Throat Associates.

Flu — widespread throughout the nation — is on the upswing in

Houston, with 86 cases reported at Texas Children's Hospital in

January, up from 50 in December. Doctors say cold, flu and other

upper respiratory viruses will be with us through March.

Clear Lake allergist Dr. has a different culprit —

local trees. He said they are working themselves into a state of

reproductive frenzy because of warmer than usual temperatures.

" We had a pretty mild winter, so we're expecting to have a pretty

robust tree pollen season soon, " said Dr. Stuart Abramson, a

pediatric allergist at Texas Children's Hospital and Baylor College

of Medicine. " We see a lot of illness in children that's

unrecognized allergies. "

Not only are dry conditions sending itchy powder from trees into the

air, fleeting rain showers are spawning mold.

Mold flourishes in moisture, and when the weather dries out, mold

releases spores, said. We inhale some, and they create the

sensation of a thousand tiny spiders crawling inside our nostrils.

leigh.hopper@...