The incidence of various types of allergies — including nasal, eye and skin — increases by 30 to 40 per cent in the winter season every year, while there was no allergy test facility available in government sector hospitals of the Sindh province.
Renowned ENT surgeon Dr Jawaid Akhtar Jamali said that due to the prevailing cold and dry weather conditions, the incidence of allergy in varied forms increased by 30 to 40 per cent in this season. He said that the nasal allergy was most common in people in winter weather which occurred due to air pollution, dust and dry weather.
He said the symptoms of nasal allergy were rhinorrhea (running nose), sneezing, nasal blockage and/or itching of the nose. He explained that nasal allergy affected whole system including throat, eye and ear; therefore, precautionary measures should be taken to prevent from cold and dry weather. He said there was no allergy test facility in government sector hospitals in Sindh. He said that the allergy test facility was only available in private hospitals of Karachi and National Institute of Health (NIH) Islamabad.
He said that the allergy cases had considerably increased due to cold and dry weather, adding that the number of patients suffering from skin rashes, flu, cough, sneezing and asthma had risen. When contacted, another ENT surgeon and Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) leader Dr SM Qaiser Sajjad said allergy cases were on the rise in Karachi due to dry weather. He said that the low temperature and dearth of rains had also added to risk of prevalence of allergy in varied forms among the elderly people and children.
He said air pollution, dust, smoke and chemicals also contributed to increase in allergy cases in this season. He said the people should take care of polluted atmosphere. He said the best treatment for allergy was to avoid factors triggering the allergy.
