MILWAUKEE — The summer pollen may be gone, but allergy season is far from over. In fact, it’s a high time for a certain weed making it the peak time for asthma attacks.
About seven years ago, Kristin Pena started getting treatment for allergies after she touched a horse and broke out in welts.
“All of a sudden it was if I touched a horse, I would like have the anaphylactic shock,” Pena said.
They’re now under control, but once in a while her symptoms flare up.
“When you can’t breathe that’s frightening,” Pena said.
According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, asthma attacks spike this time of the year in mid-September because ragweed season is at a peak and kids are going back to school.
Dr. Walter Brummund is an allergist at Allergy and Asthma Centers in Wauwatosa.
“They pass the viruses around and that magnifies the inflammation, which the total of the two together causes the asthma attacks,” Brummund said.
Nearly 3,600 people die every year from asthma attacks, 10 every day, according to the CDC, but Brummund said it's rare.
“They may have had symptoms they didn’t realize they were due to asthma and delayed too much,” Brummund said.
He urges you to take precautions with muscle relaxers and inhalers if you’re having trouble breathing.
“If it’s very severe call 911 and the EMTs will have enough medication to get you turned around,” Brummund said.
Brummund said ragweed will continue to be a problem until early October.
