NEW ORLEANS — A large number of people along the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts are developing a condition dubbed "Katrina cough," believed to be linked to mold and dust circulating in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Health officials are trying to determine how widespread the problem is, but suggest that it is popping up among people who have returned to storm-ravaged areas, particularly New Orleans.

Dr. Dennis Casey, an ear, nose and throat doctor in New Orleans, called the condition "very prevalent." And Dr. Kevin Jordan, director of medical affairs at Touro Infirmary and Memorial Medical Center in downtown New Orleans, said the hospital has seen at least a 25 percent increase in sinus headaches, congestion, runny noses and sore throats since Katrina.
 
In most cases, Casey said, patients appear to be "allergic to the filth they are exposed to." Those allergies make the patients more susceptible to respiratory illness, including bacterial bronchitis and sinusitis.

"It started out as a sore throat and scratchy eyes. That turned into a cold, and that turned into a cough again, and that's where it stayed," said French Quarter resident Christophe Hinton, 38.
Among healthy people, the condition is not considered serious and can be treated with antihistamines, nasal sprays or, in the case of bacterial infections, antibiotics.

But the condition could be serious for people whose health is compromised — transplant patients, people undergoing chemotherapy or people who suffer from emphysema, asthma, bronchitis or other ailments.

"It could be life-threatening to those people," said Dr. Peter DeBlieux, associate medical director of the Spirit of Charity, a MASH-style clinic that has been set up in downtown New Orleans.
 

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