In the last few weeks, I have taught in Springfield, Mo.; Charleston, W. Va.; and Nashville, Tenn. In all three cities, the dogwoods were in full bloom, trees were bursting with leaves and people's eyes were red as rubies. Allergy season 2007 is filling allergy clinics as a result of record pollen levels.
In the last week, Atlanta has seen two of the four days where the pollen count was the highest the city has ever seen.
Pollen.com shows "high" pollen counts from Maryland to California. Virginia is suffering an exceptionally high level.
NBC Nightly News adds:
And if you think it's just you with the congestion, the wheezing, the watery eyes, think again.
"It's just as bad for our dogs and cats, especially those with allergies, as it is for humans," says Patricia White of the Atlanta Veterinary and Skin Allergy Clinic.
Experts describe a kind of pollen perfect storm -- a wet fall, milder winter, and a dry, suddenly hot spring triggering an explosion.
Here is collection of allergy resources from the National Institutes of Health.
What can you do to control symptoms? Here are some tips from FamilyDoctor.org, run by the American Academy of Family Physicians.
The Underused Cancer Vaccine
For as long as I can remember people have been saying, "Oh, if there was only some kind of cancer vaccine -- what a wonderful day that would be."
Well, there is a cancer vaccine, and it is still not nearly as widely used as it could be.
Last June, the cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil debuted. Why has it been such a difficult battle to teach and convince college students to get vaccinated against the human papillomavirus, which can lead to the cancer?
The Washington Post says:
Since the cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil came on the market in June, health authorities and student leaders at colleges and universities have been waging a campaign to inform young people about the vaccine and the human papillomavirus, or HPV, that it attacks. At George Washington University, freshman Emily Brooks and her fellow campus Democrats worked information tables on campus for a week in February, and health professionals have given more than 300 injections. "I've never seen women so excited about shots," says Cindi Spinelli, a nurse at GWU's student health center.
But there are about 5,000 female undergraduates at GWU. While some of them may have started the shots in their home town, many more, obviously, are holding off. One reason is cost, which can range from $360 to $500. (Some health insurance plans do not cover the vaccination, or cover only part of it.) But they give other reasons as well: The virus is transmitted through sexual activity, and they're not having sex right now. Or they are having sex but are uncertain about how effective Gardasil is or what its long-term consequences might be. Some assume that hookup partners who can afford popped-collar shirts and expensive jeans are not the kind of guys who would be infected. And some admit they think that cervical cancer won't happen to them.
Who should get vaccinated? The drug maker's Web site explains.
Some background from the Food and Drug Administration:
HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about 6.2 million Americans become infected with genital HPV each year and that over half of all sexually active men and women become infected at some time in their lives. On average, there are 9,710 new cases of cervical cancer and 3,700 deaths attributed to it in the United States each year. Worldwide, cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women and is estimated to cause over 470,000 new cases and 233,000 deaths each year.
For most women, the body's own defense system will clear the virus, and infected women do not develop related health problems. However, some HPV types can cause abnormal cells on the lining of the cervix that years later can turn into cancer. Other HPV types can cause genital warts. The vaccine is effective against HPV types 16 and 18, which cause approximately 70 percent of cervical cancers, and against HPV types 6 and 11, which cause approximately 90 percent of genital warts.
Jobs of the Future
Manpower Inc., in its global 2007 "Talent Shortage Survey," [PDF] found that salespersons, mechanics, teachers, technicians and truck drivers were among the hardest jobs for employers to fill.
Topix.net Changes
This week, Topix.net (a Gannett, McClatchy and Tribune venture) became a different kind of Web site. If you enter a zip code in the top search box, you will find stories related to that zip code. But the site is also moving in on the user-generated content movement by allowing people to post and comment on news stories and photographs. Topix says it sees a "big hunger for local news."
We are always looking for your great ideas. Send Al a few sentences and hot links.
Editor's Note: Al's Morning Meeting is a compendium of ideas, edited story excerpts and other materials from a variety of Web sites, as well as original concepts and analysis. When the information comes directly from another source, it will be attributed and a link will be provided whenever possible. The column is fact-checked, but depends upon the accuracy and integrity of the original sources cited. Errors and inaccuracies found will be corrected.
Today's "The Underused Cancer Vaccine" really caught my eye. As...
