Hay Fever

To its victims, hay fever is no laughing matter. Every summer, over 6,000,000 people in the U. S. are racked by its sneezes, blinded by its tears. For half the sufferers, the 15th of August, when ragweed fever begins, is their last sneezeless day till frost. Why the disease always strikes on August 15 is no nasal mystery, but merely another indication of Nature's regularity. As August 15 approaches, the shortening of daylight hours allows the ragweed plant precisely enough sunlight to ripen it on that day. And the number of hours of daylight and darkness for a given date is the same from year to year.

Most hay fever victims understand little about their malady. No mere irritant of nose and throat, the pollen, when inhaled, affects the bloodstream, is repelled by specific "reagins" the body produces to fight the irritating grains. Hence neither inhalants nor drops in the eyes bring more than temporary relief. But fairly reliable insurance for a quiet season is hypodermic injections given two months before the expected illness: a doctor scratches a patient's skin, applies various types of pollen extract; the one which produces wheals and itching is then administered in subcutaneous injections of refined, sterilized pollen. How the immunization works, nobody knows. Immunity is not permanent, injections must be resumed every year, are sometimes given all year round.

Similar in effect to injections are the pollen pills first introduced by Detroit's Sherman Laboratories last spring. Ten days before he starts sneezing, the patient swallows a few pills, gradually increases the amount until his physician calls a halt. Medical opinion is now divided on the efficacy of the pills, some physicians holding that the pills cause serious upsets in the digestive system.

Aids but no cures are air-conditioned rooms (expensive, confining) and electrically charged masks (cumbersome, unbecoming).

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