Treatment for all of these irritants
includes taking antihistamines.
“When we talk about your body
overreacting, it’s the release of histamines.
Histamines cause cells to swell,” said
Knowles.
Decongestants and nasal steroids for
infl amed airways will also help relieve
symptoms.
“Most people at some point kind of
outgrow it. Your body adjusts to it; you stop
having that overreaction of the immune
system. Your body kind of adapts to it in
most cases,” Jeff explained.
“There is big controversy as to whether
all of this runoff is causing it to worsen or
not. The red
tide has been
documented
since the
1700s, so it’s
been around
way before
we started
infl uencing
the environment."
The algae
K. brevis can
bloom in
warm environments
and causes brevetoxins, which are the
reason for such strong and consequential
red tide symptoms. These brevetoxins can
result in hundreds of dead fi sh washed up
on Florida’s shorelines.
“It can bloom all year long. Around
2018, we had like 14 months of it, it was
bad,” said Knowles. “The fi sh swim in it,
and have constant contact with it. That’s
why they die.”
When the algae blooms and sparks red
tide, the effects can be patchy and hard
to measure, but the symptoms are still
there. Symptoms can come and go by
simply traveling to different beaches.
“Unless you get in the water, it’s not
going to be a problem, until you have
wind and waves that bring the bacteria
to the air,” said Knowles. “It’s an airborne
pathogen that can get caught in the
wind and, for a short distance, it can
affect your respiratory system if you directly
breathe it in.”
However, the mild bacteria are not
going to infi ltrate your blood system. If
there is a case of a human death due
to red tide, it is likely that the symptoms
exacerbated a pre-existing condition.
WHEN RED TIDE SEASON HITS
BETWEEN AUGUST AND NOVEMBER,
THERE IS ONLY SO MUCH YOU CAN
DO TO GET AWAY FROM
RESPIRATORY IRRITATION.