allergist said this week.

Dr. Paul Ehrlich of the Immunology and Allergy Division at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York, said educating patients and their relatives about controlling allergies was vital. Learning to control them reduced the need for emergency care.

His comments were made at a luncheon before a group invited by Thermax Bermuda, the company backing this week's Asthma and Allergy Awareness Conference.

The breadth of the asthma and allergy problems in Bermuda is underlined by hospital statistics showing they accounted for 1,466 visits to the Emergency Department in 1992.

Dr. Ehrlich and Ms Nancy Sanders, the founder of Allergy and Asthma Network/Mothers of Asthmatics, will be speaking at Asthma and Allergy Awareness Group conferences this week. The public is invited to attend tomorrow night's gathering at 7 p.m. at Cathedral Hall on Church Street.

ASTHMA ATTACKERS -- Conferences are being held this week to educate the community about allergies and asthma. Pictured (from left), are Ms Nancy Sanders, guest speaker and founder of Allergy and Asthma Network, Mrs. Ivena Laurenceo, Health Promotion Coordinator at the Department of Health, Mrs.

Andrea Smith, founder of the Asthma and Allergy Awareness Group, Mr. Charles Leon O'Brien, Vice-President of Marketing and Sales for Thermax, and Dr. Paul Ehrlich, guest speaker and a specialist in allergies and asthma.