Ill Winds

It started suddenly on Friday at sunset: Eyes began to sting, throats got scratchy and a bout of sneezing seized and racked the afflicted until exhaustion set in.

This was no ordinary bit of hay fever. It was the mischievous work of the Santa Ana winds. Those hot breezes from the northeast--which blew in last month and should peak by January--bring more than warm gusts and blue skies to Ventura County.

They can carry Los Angeles and Riverside smog that contains irritating nitrogen oxide, ozone and soot; sand, and mesquite and tumbleweed pollen from the High Desert; pine and fir pollen from the San Gabriel Mountains; and, for residents along Oxnard’s and Ventura’s beaches, oak, olive and grass pollens.

“It’s like God’s big lawn blower,” said Lewis J. Kanter, an allergist with offices in Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley and Camarillo.

On Wednesday, a day after the most recent Santa Ana wound down, one of Kanter’s patients, Ron Kruzel, was just beginning to recover.

“I’m not having a bad day today, [but] the past five days have been terrible,” said Kruzel, 41, an adult-education teacher. “Over the weekend, my eyes were almost swollen shut.”

Although he’s had allergies since childhood, Kruzel had never been tested to see what caused the itching and swelling. Kanter’s test revealed grass and dust were the major culprits.

Kanter doesn’t deny that his patients’ Santa Ana-driven misery benefits his bottom line, or that of other allergists throughout Ventura County.

Between one-fourth and one-third of the general population is believed to suffer, at least occasionally, from some allergy symptoms, Kanter said. Business is up as much as 30% when the winds are blowing--although springtime is still the busiest time of the year for area specialists.

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Across the hall from Kruzel, 8-year-old Melinda Montano was in for a checkup. After months of treatment with liquid medication, inhalers and cream for her asthma and allergies, she found the most recent Santa Ana was a big test.

“Normally, when that wind starts kicking in, I worry,” said her mother, Lesa Montano. “I worry about her breathing, her nose, the whole nine yards. I just want to cover her and put her somewhere, but she has to go to school.”

This time, the third-grader survived several days of Santa Anas without collapsing and without missing school. But she knows that without her medicine she would have been in trouble.

Within a couple of weeks, general practitioners may be reaping the secondary benefits of Santa Anas. Any autumn cold and flu germs making the rounds will find receptive hosts in the millions of tiny little cuts lining the inflamed eyes, throats and lungs of residents worn down by the wind.

The emergency room at Ventura County Medical Center typically treats more respiratory problems during Santa Ana winds, said Dr. Sylvana Guidotti, emergency room director. “It’s clear we see more asthmatics, not just when the winds blow but whenever it goes from damp to dry,” she said.

“When Santa Anas blow--they can cause irritation and inflammation in the lungs, worsen asthma and cause people with chronic bronchitis to feel worse,” said Dr. Henry Gong, a professor of medicine at USC.

“There’s also epidemiological evidence that breathing these [soot and sand] particles--and we don’t know why--can cause heart problems.”

The county’s Air Pollution Control District, which monitors the air countywide for particulates floating in the air, had yet to receive the data of air tests during last week’s Santa Ana. The most recent data, from mid-October, showed a slightly heavier than normal presence of particulates, but nothing alarming, said meteorologist Kent Field.

But by January, when the Santa Anas typically peak, Field and his co-workers can expect a higher proportion of junk to be floating in the air.

Meanwhile, this winter, like last, is expected to follow a La Nina pattern. In such a condition, cold surface water along the coast keeps storm systems to the north and makes the winter drier than normal for Southern California, said Todd Morris, chief meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Oxnard.

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That means the likelihood of a longer than normal Santa Ana season, although Morris says he can’t predict exactly how much longer.

Also, Kanter said, as the weather gets colder, many people’s Santa Ana symptoms are compounded. When heaters are turned on at home, the air dries out, further drying eyes and nasal passages. The dry heat also creates some static electricity that kicks up dust, mold and pet hair that had settled into carpets and rugs during the damper summer months. Instinct tells a person to crack a window if the house needs airing out. But during Santa Anas, even at night, letting the outside air in will only make things worse.

Experts’ advice when the Santa Anas get to you: Drink water. Vacuum your carpets. Keep windows and doors closed. Run the air-conditioning if weather permits. Make sure heating vents, ducts and filters are clean. If you need medical treatment, get it.