A new Cornell University study that tracks how many asthma-related emergency room visits result from pollen in metropolitan areas highlights the importance of knowing local plants and the need for developing science-based pollen forecasts. Such forecasts could alert vulnerable individuals on days when they should consider staying indoors or taking allergy medications ahead of time. Even though the percent of asthma-related emergency department visits associated with pollen overall was only a few percent on an annual basis, at certain times of year when particular types of pollen were spiking, we sometimes saw up to almost 20% of visits were due to pollen.
" Daniel Katz, assistant professor and first author of the study To figure out which asthma emergencies may have been activated by pollen, as opposed to a virus or other cause, the researchers collected data from the Texas Department of State Health Services and analyzed close to 175,000 asthma-related emergency room visits between 2015 and 2020. They singled out visits from patients who lived within about 15 miles of one of eight pollen monitoring stations where airborne pollen concentrations are measured. When pollen and virus prevalence were high at the same time, the researchers had the advantage of an abundance of data, from eight cities and over five years, to uncover the likely causes.
Related Stories Early antibiotic exposure can trigger long term susceptibility to asthma Study links gene regulation to allergic airway.