Pollen and asthma morbidity in Atlanta: A 26-year time-series study

Lappe, Brooke; Ebelt, Stefanie; D’Souza, Rohan; Manangan, Arie; Brown, Claudia; Saha, Shubhayu; Harris, Drew; Chang, Howard H.; Solé, A.; Scovronick, Noah

doi:10.1016/j.envint.2023.107998

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 50 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Our results were supported by previous findings, for example, that Twitter discussions on allergy symptoms and antihistamine drugs aligned with airborne pollen concentrations in 2017 at the US and state levels (Gesualdo et al, 2015) . Beyond social media, the close connection between human perceptions and pollen phenology is visible from internet searches (Hall et al, 2020) , medication sales (Sheffield et al, 2011) , and hospital visits (Lappe et al, 2023;Wakamiya et al, 2019) . Pollen phenology is an exceptional representation of broader changes in biological systems that are captured by the public, other examples being vegetation greenness (Silva et al, 2018) and fall phenology (Shin et al, 2021) .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biological changes, political ideology, and scientific communication shape human perceptions of pollen seasons

Song,

Millard-Ball,

Fox

et al. 2024

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Climate change is changing the timing and intensity of pollen seasons, thereby increasing human exposure to allergenic pollen. Climate-driven changes in pollen seasons present a unique opportunity to craft messaging aimed at communicating climate change impacts on public health through changes in the biological systems. However, it is unclear how pollen seasons are experienced and understood by the public, including how well we detect pollen seasons or what factors we view as responsible for changes in pollen seasons. Here, we use social media data in the United States from 2012 to 2022 to assess public perceptions of pollen seasons at large spatiotemporal scales. We show that pollen seasons detected by social media (Twitter) users align well with natural pollen seasons. Attribution of changing pollen seasons, however, varies based on political ideology: liberal users, compared to conservative users, are more likely to attribute changing pollen seasons to climate change. Mass media and scientific experts play a key role in communicating how climate change drives changing pollen seasons. Our findings reveal how changes in biological systems, political ideology, and scientific communications collectively shape public perceptions of pollen seasons under climate change. Our findings constitute a step towards more effective climate change impact communication and public health intervention design.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biological changes, political ideology, and scientific communication shape human perceptions of pollen seasons

Song,

Millard-Ball,

Fox

et al. 2024

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…13 – 16 The relevant pollen seasons for each taxa were determined through visual inspection of the data, drawing on previous research that employed a 3-day consecutive approach to calculating season start and end dates, similar to methodologies in other studies. 15 – 19 Sample processing has been described in detail in Darrow et al 9 and Manangan et al 16 More detail on these 26-year pollen data can also be found in Lappe et al 15 …”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We used log-linear quasi-Poisson regression models to estimate the association between daily pollen levels and counts of all cardiovascular ED visits and for each outcome separately, based on our prior work. 15 Primary analyses assessed associations using 3-day (lag 0–2) distributed lag models and controlled for temporal confounding using indicator variables for day of week, federal holidays, month and year, and month-by-year interaction terms. Analyses were limited to the relevant pollen seasons for each taxon, as months outside of these seasons generally had extremely low concentrations (Supplemental Figure 1; http://links.lww.com/EE/A263 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We selected these taxa based on their suspected allergenicity, consistent sampling throughout the study period, and because they constitute the predominant pollen taxa in Atlanta. [13][14][15][16] The relevant pollen seasons for each taxa were determined through visual inspection of the data, drawing on previous research that employed a 3-day consecutive approach to calculating season start and end dates, similar to methodologies in other studies. [15][16][17][18][19] Sample processing has been described in detail in Darrow et al 9 and Manangan et al 16 More detail on these 26-year pollen data can also be found in Lappe et al 15…”

Section: Pollen Monitoringmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Associations of pollen and cardiovascular disease morbidity in Atlanta during 1993–2018

Lappe,

Scovronick,

D’Souza

et al. 2024

Environmental Epidemiology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Pollen exposure is associated with substantial respiratory morbidity, but its potential impact on cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains less understood. This study aimed to investigate the associations between daily levels of 13 pollen types and emergency department (ED) visits for eight CVD outcomes over a 26-year period in Atlanta, GA. Methods: We acquired pollen data from Atlanta Allergy & Asthma, a nationally certified pollen counting station, and ED visit data from individual hospitals and the Georgia Hospital Association. We performed time-series analyses using quasi-Poisson distributed lag models, with primary analyses assessing 3-day (lag 0–2 days) pollen levels. Models controlled for temporally varying covariates, including air pollutants. Results: During 1993–2018, there were 1,573,968 CVD ED visits. Most pairwise models of the 13 pollen types and eight CVD outcomes showed no association, with a few exceptions potentially due to chance. Conclusion: We found limited evidence of the impact of pollen on cardiovascular morbidity in Atlanta. Further study on pollen exposures in different climactic zones and exploration of pollen-pollution mixture effects is warranted.

show abstract

“…[2][3][4] Birch is predominantly distributed across Europe, North America and Asia. 2,5 The dispersal period of birch pollen ranges from March to May, with a sensitization rate in the general population ranging from 8% to 16%. 2,4,6 Birch pollen predominantly elicits allergic rhinitis (AR), allergic conjunctivitis, and asthma.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Profiles of Birch Allergen Component Sensitization and Its Association with Pollen Food Allergy Syndrome in Northern China

Wang,

Chen,

Ding

et al. 2023

JAA

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

To investigate the major allergen components associated with birch pollen allergy in northern China and elucidate clinical relevance to pollen food allergy syndrome (PFAS). Methods: Fifty-eight patients were recruited for a cross-sectional study and categorized into two groups: PFAS group and non-PFAS group, as well as apple allergy group and non-apple allergy group. The sIgE levels of birch pollen and its components, namely Bet v 1, Bet v 2, Bet v 4, and Bet v 6, were analyzed. Results: Among 58 participants, 44 individuals (75.9%) reported PFAS. 32 out of 44 (72.7%) participants reported apple allergy. Bet v 1 exhibited the highest sensitization rate at 82.8%, followed by Bet v 2 (29.3%) and Bet v 6 (1.7%). The combined sensitization rate for Bet v 1 and/or Bet v 2 was 93.1%. A total of 77.6% of the subjects demonstrated sensitization to single component, while 19.0% exhibited sensitization to two components. The sIgE levels of birch pollen and Bet v 1 were significantly elevated in PFAS group compared to non-PFAS group (p=0.001, p<0.001, respectively), as well as in apple-allergic and non-apple-allergic group (p<0.001, p<0.001, respectively). The optimal cut-off values for birch pollen and Bet v 1 sIgE were determined to be 7.09 kUA/L (with a sensitivity of 84.1% and specificity of 78.6%) and 5.11 kUA/L (with a sensitivity of 75.0% and specificity of 85.7%) when diagnosing PFAS. In terms of apple allergy, the optimal cut-off value were 9.40 kUA/L (with a sensitivity of 81.3% and specificity of 76.9%) and 6.53 kUA/L (with a sensitivity of 84.4% and specificity of 84.6%), respectively. Conclusion:The predominant sensitization pattern is mono-sensitization to Bet v 1, but when considering immunotherapy, Bet v 2 should also be taken into account. Bet v 1 serves as a valuable biomarker for diagnosing PFAS and apple allergy.

show abstract

Pollen and asthma morbidity in Atlanta: A 26-year time-series study

Cited by 7 publications

References 50 publications

Biological changes, political ideology, and scientific communication shape human perceptions of pollen seasons

Biological changes, political ideology, and scientific communication shape human perceptions of pollen seasons

Associations of pollen and cardiovascular disease morbidity in Atlanta during 1993–2018

Profiles of Birch Allergen Component Sensitization and Its Association with Pollen Food Allergy Syndrome in Northern China

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About