A catchy comic book designed by the South Texas Environmental Education and Research (STEER) program is teaching individuals of all ages about allergens and other household exposures that could be triggering asthma attacks.
Secondhand smoke, dust mites, pets, pests and molds are among the common triggers listed in
Allergen Attack: A Job for the Micro Force., created by Claudia Miller, M.D., director of STEER, and colleagues. Dr. Miller is also a professor and vice chair in the department of family and community medicine.
“This entertaining comic book teaches children and their parents in a fun, informative way about what might be causing serious allergies or asthma attacks,” Dr. Miller said. “It describes the battle between individuals and household triggers, and provides preventive strategies to avoid illnesses.”
The comic book is filled with activity pages developed by John Lutri of STEER, health recommendations from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and magnifications of common household exposures and triggers. Explanations in Spanish and English describe how to clear the home of asthma triggers.
The story, written by Elizabeth Lutri, takes readers on an adventure with a group of children who are on a mission to prevent their friend, Jesse, from suffering from an asthma attack. As they go through Jesse’s house, they battle with dust mites, cockroaches, smoke and pet dander. Jesse’s friends save him by ridding his home of these triggers, while informing the reader how to avoid them.
Development of the comic was enabled by a grant from the National Environmental Education and Training Foundation. The EPA and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development grants also have assisted STEER in several ways, including grants for conducting environmental house calls.
“The environmental house calls have been helpful for teaching health professions students-in-training about the role of the environment in a common chronic illness, while at the same time providing families with targeted information to enable them to reduce asthma triggers in their homes,” Dr. Miller said. “Dozens of house calls are conducted each year in Laredo, where this program began, and we wanted an educational piece to share with the families.”
The STEER program was established in Laredo as a part of the Health Science Center's department of family and community medicine to provide medical, nursing, allied health, public health students and medical residents with a four-week elective on border health. Hundreds of students from medical and public health schools across the country have participated in the course. STEER’s goal is to teach tomorrow's health practitioners about environmental health and to reunite medicine with public health.
“We are told that this book has already been extremely beneficial to children and their parents,” Dr. Miller said. “Several people have requested copies to use for their programs. While there are many teaching aids that address asthma and its treatment, to our knowledge this is the first to focus on preventing asthma by addressing underlying environmental triggers.”
Dr. Miller said the comic book would not have been possible without John and Elizabeth Lutri.
“They were instrumental in developing this colorful and engaging comic and we are all appreciative of that,” Dr. Miller said.
For more information, call: (210) 567-7407.
