The following Healthcast report by medical editor Marilyn Brooks first aired July 19, 2004, on Channel 4 Action News at 5 p.m.

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Most folks call it sun poisoning. Whatever you call it, if you get it, you're allergic to the sun's ultraviolet rays. Like all allergies it can be mild or severe.

All but die-hard sun worshippers use sunscreen these days. It protects them from most of the harmful effects of the sun's ultraviolet light, unless they are solar sensitive.

Brenda Bulger: "You couldn't touch it, it was so inflamed."

Bulger is talking about her skin. She's among the 260,000 Americans who get solar sickness. They are allergic to the sun's rays, and their skin pays the toll.

Bulger: "It almost turns into, like, a really bad prickly heat. It feels like elephant skin."

Dr. Marc Itskowitz, Allegheny General Hospital: "It usually occurs in late spring or early summer after their first major exposure to sun light. This rash lasts often up to two weeks and goes away on its own, but patients sometimes can be concerned about the appearance of the rash."

That red, bumpy, itchy rash covered most of Bulger's body. It's pretty much gone now.

There are 200 medications that can potentially make you sensitive to the sun. They include certain antibiotics, tricyclic antidepressants and certain heart medications. But don't confuse that kind of drug photosentitivity with solar sickness. The two are quite different.

Chemical photosensitivity makes you susceptible to sunburn. Sun poisoning is actually an abnormal immune response to the sun. It affects people of all skin colors at any age, but especially in the 20s and 30s.

Is it a sign of lupus or thyroid problems? Possibly, but that's rare. The good news is it's easily treated.

Itskowitz: "Acute episodes usually respond well to topical corticosteroids."

You can buy them over the counter -- but what about severe cases, like Bulger?

Bulger: "They gave me a prescription for prednisone, and I was good."

Of course, the cornerstone treatment for this condition is prevention.

Patients are urged to wear protective clothing and use sunscreen with a sun protection factor of at least 15, but higher when you're in the tropical zones. Red, itchy, bumpy, extensive rashes need to be treated to avoid infection or skin breakdown.