Environmental house calls

Household triggers: Pet dander and particulate from burning candles with long wicks can trigger asthma attacks.

Part of a STEER student's training involves making an "environmental house call," a hands-on method to learn underlying causes of asthma.

Families in Laredo with children who have asthma volunteer to open their homes to the students. Under professional supervision, the students visit the family home three times. They learn about the relationship between illness and the environment of their patient.

House call: Student Liz Moran and Roger Perales, program coordinator, prepare instruments to measure indoor air.

"Before coming here, I would have never thought to do home visits to identify allergens in the environments of children with asthma," said Liz Lowenthal, a fourth-year student at Baylor College of Medicine. "Now I want to find a way to make such visits routine for my patients who have multiple hospitalizations for asthma exacerbations."

On the initial visit, students look for air contaminants that might contribute to asthma: mold, tobacco smoke, dust from unpaved roads, auto and truck exhaust, combustion byproducts and allergens. On the second visit, students conduct selected testing for carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, allergens, mold and airborne particulate.

On their third and final visit, the students and the host family members discuss exposures that concern them, ask questions, and consider ways to reduce irritants at home.