Eight Important Facts & Resources for the Traveler with Allergies

Author: Susan Dunn (Click here to view biography...)

'…[T]raveling to an Allergy Capital™ [where allergens are high] should be a reminder to allergy sufferers to control allergy symptoms by planning ahead,' says Derek Johnson, MD, an allergist at Temple University Medical Center and a medical advisor to AAFA. 'Having a personal Allergy Action Plan can help allergy sufferers prevent symptoms from flaring up and understand how to treat symptoms when
necessary.'

1. If you’re traveling in the US, check out the Top 50 50 Allergy Capitals™ in the US here: http://www.allergypreventioncenter.com/news2003/top50allergycapitals.html .

Included among them you’ll find some of the most populardestinations for business or pleasure, including Orlando, New York city, New Orleans, Chicago, Washington, DC, Denver, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

2. Visit www.pollen.com to see what the pollen count is in
the location you plan to visit, and
http://www.aaaai.org/nab/index.cfm?p=pollen to get pollen
and mold count in US and Canada.

a href=http://www.pollen.com/Pollen.com.asp/A you can sign up to be alerted by email in the morning when conditions in your town or ones to which you frequently travel exceed the trigger point that causes most allergy sufferers to have symptoms.

3. The a
href=http://www.hon.ch/Library/Theme/Allergy/Glossary/euro.htmlEuropean pollen calendar presents data collected from 200 pollen stations all over Europe.

Tree data includes alder, hazel, birch, ash, olive, plane and cypress. Weed data comes from observations of ragweed, mugwort, pellitory, and nettles. According to the site, “grass pollen is the most important allergen in Europe. As cross-reactivity is extremely high amongst nearly all grasses, for the grass-pollen sensitive patient it makes no difference which grass pollen she or he inhales.”

And, they add, “only the pollen of cultivated rye has a higher allergencity than the pollen of wild grasses.”

4. a
href=http://www.hon.ch/Library/Theme/Allergy/Glossary/asia.htmlPollen
calendar for North America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia provides pollen information and interesting facts.

For instance, if you’re planning a trip to Japan, you might want to know that Japanese cedar pollen, which is one of the most potent known, and causes severe symptoms is present from approximately the end of January until the beginning of April on the north island, and mid-April through early May on the south island.

5. Food allergies are not related to location but can cause
serious reactions, and food and pollens can cross-react.

Here http://www.wfaa.com/weather/allergy/allergy7.html is a chart of foods that cross-react. For instance, if you’re sensitive to ragweed, when it’s pollinating you should avoid egg, milk, bananas, and lettuce.

6. Dust, mold and fungus may be present anywhere at any time.

According to the above site, if you’re allergic to dust, you should avoid seafood, nuts and peanut butter, and if you’re allergic to molds and fungus, you should avoid milk products, vinegars, alcoholic beverages, mushrooms, yeast and sugar. Part of the information on this site is provided by the American Academy of Otolaryngology.

7. Anaphylactic shock can occur as the results of eating food, or such things as a bee stings.

What’s difficult about food allergies is that they can appear ‘out of the blue.” You can one day be eating lobster and suddenly experience difficulty breathing, itchiness, swelling of the lips and throat, and drop in blood pressure, and finally collapse. Anaphylactic shock can be fatal. The symptoms can start immediately, or up to some hours
following.

If you've ever suffered anaphylactic shock, you’ve probably been instructed by your physician to carry injectable adrenaline with you and to keep some at home as well.

If these symptoms occur, seek medical attention immediately. Some people experience this to bee stings.

8. Pay attention to your accommodations. Check things about
before you book your room, and change rooms or accommodations if need be.

Avoid musty rooms, and don’t take a smoking room. If you are bothered by wall units, make sure your accommodations are centrally heated and cooled. Check out what that comforter’s made of before you dive under the covers in that quaint bed and breakfast, and make sure the places are centrally cooled and heated if wall units and forced heating bother your allergies.

Also check for scented candles, new carpeting, ammonia, Clorox, room deodorizers, and perfumes.

Check with your personal healthcare professional for a plan for your unique situation.