September Asthma Peak, a Perfect Storm of Triggers.

Twenty-five percent (25%) of all children’s asthma hospitalizations occur in September. Now commonly known as the September Asthma Peak, this time between early-mid September and mid-October, is a perfect storm of triggers and a return to school impacts.

With a hot summer and warm fall, ragweed plants will not stop dispersing pollen until the first frost in mid-November. Each ragweed plant disperses over 1 billion pollen grains and ragweed pollen grains are very small and easily inhalable, even into one’s lower airways.

Ragweed pollen is prevalent because ragweed grows easily in various types of soil. It grows often in areas where soils have been disturbed, and particularly along the margins near developed areas. Other habitats include weedy meadows, cropland, abandoned fields, vacant lots, fence rows, roadsides, gravelly areas along railroads, gardens and lawns, construction sites, and waste areas.

Because of the volume of pollen grains and that they are small and easily inhalable, even modest winds have a big impact on how ragweed pollen travels. Even a modest 5 mph winds may disturb ragweed pollen sufficiently to increase your risk outside. And, thunderstorms disturb ragweed pollen grains sufficiently to create the thunderstorm asthma phenomena sometimes experienced. Thunderstorms disperse pollen grains, but it also breaks pollen grains down into even smaller grains.

Ragweed allergies are prevalent among children and, unfortunately, disturbed areas are often found around schools, or at school bus stops along the roadside. Students with asthma are often being exposed to problematic allergens, some exposed to school bus exhaust, and then confront a classroom with poor indoor quality or perhaps an irritant present in the classroom. 

 These are among the exposures that a student with asthma experiences potentially reaching a symptom threshold that risks an asthma attack. This is the environment that a child with asthma faces as they return to school this and every year.  Download DailyBreath today to take action against your environmental triggers!