Ragweed Pollen Concentration Predict Seasonal Oculo-rhinitis and Asthma Severity in Subjects Allergic to Ragweed.

Objectives: 1. To investigate the correlation between ragweed pollen concentration and conjunctival, nasal and asthma symptoms severity in patients allergic to ragweed using ambient pollen exposure in the Milan area during the 2014 ragweed season; 2. to calculate the pollen / symptom thresholds and 3. to assess the effectiveness of ragweed Allergen Immuno Therapy (AIT).Patients: 66 subjects allergic to Amb a 1 enrolled in the study and were divided into two cohorts: AIT treated (24) and non-AIT treated (42).Measurements: Pollen counts and daily symptom/medication patient diaries. Autoregressive Distributed Lag Models were used to develop predictive models of daily symptoms and to evaluate the short-term effects of temporal variations in pollen concentration on the onset of symptoms. Results: We found significant correlations between ragweed pollen load and the intensity of symptoms, for all three symptom categories respectively, both in non-AIT treated (𝛕= 0.341, 0.352, 0.721 and ρ = 0.48, 0.432, 0.881, p-value < 0.001) and in AIT treated patients (O= 0.46, 0.610, 0.66 and ρ = 0.692, 0.805, 0.824; p-value < 0.001). In both cohorts, we observed a positive correlation between the number of symptoms reported and drug use. Mean symptom levels were significantly greater in non-AIT treated than in AIT treated patients (p < 0.001) for all symptom categories. Pollen concentration thresholds for three symptom severity levels were calculated.Conclusions: Ragweed pollen concentration is predictive of symptom severity in ragweed (Amb a 1) allergy patients. AIT treated patients had significantly reduced mean symptom levels compared to non-AIT patients.

Monitoring the dynamics of the concentration of pollen of allergenic plants the purpose of prevention of polynosis in Ulyanovsk

The study of allergenic plants and their palynological complexes is of great importance for the prevention of pollinosis. Despite this, they are insufficiently studied in many countries of the world, including Russia. On the territory of the Ulyanovsk region, these studies were not carried out, although pollinosis occupy a leading place among allergic pathology. Studies have shown that the largest amount of pollen grains for the entire flowering period of allergenic plants is observed in the industrial zone. We can conclude that June and July are the most dangerous months for people with allergies. The most dangerous waves are the second and third, the least dangerous - the first. The research results must be taken into account when planning preventive measures and treating pollinosis. Key words: allergenic plants, hay fever, pollination, pollen concentration, pollen wave.

Analysis of changes in Betula pollen season start including the cycle of pollen concentration in atmospheric air

Birch belongs to the most important allergenic taxa in Europe, therefore information on the start dates of the pollen season is very important for allergists and their patients as well as for climatologists. The study examined changes in the start of the birch pollen season as well as determined the trend of these changes. Pollen monitoring was performed in Lublin (eastern Poland) in the period 2001–2019 using the volumetric method. The Makra-test was used to detect periods with significantly higher or lower average of the onset than the average for the whole dataset. Two significant falls in the average of the pollen season start were found in 2007 and 2014. Besides, taking into account the 2-3-year rhythm of high and low concentrations of birch pollen in the atmospheric air, linear trends were fitted for the subsets of high and low abundance seasons. Significant changes in Betula pollen season start dates were only determined for the highly abundance seasons, while the results for seasons with a low concentration did not allow rejecting the hypothesis about the lack of a linear trend in the changes in the studied parameter. Moreover, a significant polynomial relationship was found between the beginning of a pollen season and the average values of monthly temperatures preceded a season. These analyses show that the start dates of the Betula pollen season are getting significantly earlier. The dynamics of changes differ between seasons with high and low concentrations of pollen.

The Relationship between Metrological Parameters and Total Airborne Pollen Concentration in Atmosphere of Khartoum City During 2018

This study is aimed to find out the effect and relationship between metrological parameters and total airborne pollen concentration in atmosphere in Khartoum city (Sudan). For that purpose, one-year data during 2018 of Total Airborne Pollen Concentration (TAPC) and meteorological parameters is utilized. Pollen concentration in the atmosphere was measured using Non-volumetric air sampler (Vertical cylinder spore trap). The descriptive statistic of TAPC and metrological parameters were presented. The result showed TAPC in 2018 reached to their maximum in August (37.5/m³), and the minimum in June (14/ m³). Analysis of the relationship between TAPC and meteorological parameters showed that variations in the pollen concentrations were mainly affected by maximum temperature. In addition, there were substantial differences in these relationships in different seasons. In Autumn, they were affected by the rain falls, maximum temperature and relative humidity; in summer, they were affected by maximum temperature; and in winter, they were affected by maximum temperature and relative humidity. Temperature, rain falls and relative humidity promote plant growth and blooming. As well as the results show wind direction was significant on seasonally TAPC especially in Autumn. The results found significant effects between the meteorological on TAPC, were it is showed 72 % are affecting on TAPC refer to meteorological parameters and 28 % refer to another factors.

Spatial and Temporal Variations of Airborne Poaceae Pollen along an Urbanization Gradient Assessed by Different Types of Pollen Traps

Grass pollen allergy is widespread all around the globe. With an increasing number of people living in cities, the examination of grass pollen levels within cities and their surroundings has increased in importance. The aim of this study was to examine different temporal and spatial scales of grass pollen concentration and deposition across urban and semi-rural environments in the years 2019 and 2020. We installed different types of pollen traps in the city of Ingolstadt (Bavaria, Germany) and its surroundings: volumetric pollen traps at roof level to assess background pollen concentration and gravimetric pollen traps and portable volumetric traps at street level. We considered grass pollen concentration and deposition in the context of land use and management. Our data showed that the grass pollen season in 2020 was longer and more intense than in 2019. Background grass pollen concentration was generally higher at the semi-rural site in both years: peak values were eight times (2019) and more than four times (2020) higher, and Seasonal Pollen Index was more than four times and almost three times higher in 2019 and 2020, respectively. Analyses of spatial variations measured at street level revealed higher numbers for pollen deposition and concentrations at semi-rural than at urban sites. Recorded values were linked to local vegetation and the management of grass areas surrounding the traps. Analyses of diurnal variations at street level in June 2019 showed that pollen concentration for all sites, independent of their degree of urbanization, were highest at noon (22.2 pollen grains/m³ vs. 8.5 pollen grains/m³ in the morning and 10.4 pollen grains/m³ in the evening). Diurnal variations at roof level showed similarities for the same days but differed when considering the whole season. Our data suggest the importance of the management of grass areas as areas cut earlier have a decreased amount of emitted pollen.

Short term physician visits and medication prescriptions for allergic disease associated with seasonal tree, grass, and weed pollen exposure across the United States

Background While year-round exposure to pollen is linked to a large burden of allergic diseases, location-specific risk information on pollen types and allergy outcomes are limited. We characterize the relationship between acute exposure to tree, grass and weed pollen taxa and two allergy outcomes (allergic rhinitis physician visit and prescription allergy medication fill) across 28 metropolitan statistical areas (MSA) in the United States. Methods We obtained daily pollen data from National Allergy Bureau (NAB) monitors at these 28 MSAs for 2008–2015. We revised the NAB guidelines to classify taxa-specific pollen severity each day. Daily information on allergic rhinitis and prescribed allergy medications for individuals with employer-based health insurance from the IBM MarketScan Research database for these MSAs. We combined the daily pollen and health data for each MSA into a longitudinal dataset. We conducted a MSA-specific conditional quasi-Poisson regression analysis to assess how different levels of pollen concentration impact the health outcomes, controlling for local air pollution, meteorology and Influenza-like illness (ILI). We used a random effects meta-analysis to produce an overall risk estimate for each pollen type and health outcome. Results The seasonal distribution of pollen taxa and associated health impacts varied across the MSAs. Relative risk of allergic rhinitis visits increased as concentrations increased for all pollen types; relative risk of medication fills increased for tree and weed pollen only. We observed an increase in health risk even on days with moderate levels of pollen concentration. 7-day average concentration of pollen had stronger association with the health outcomes compared to the same-day measure. Controlling for air pollution and ILI had little impact on effect estimates. Conclusion This analysis expands the catalogue of associations between different pollen taxa and allergy-related outcomes across multiple MSAs. The effect estimates we present can be used to project the burden of allergic disease in specific locations in the future as well inform patients with allergies on impending pollen exposure.