The correlation between middle schoolchildren allergic symptoms and airborne particle season

Abstract

Limited studies correlate allergic symptoms and associated outdoor biological particle exposure among schoolchildren globally. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the seasonality of symptoms of allergic diseases among middle schoolchildren and the annual variation of airborne pollen and fungal spore in a hot and humid geographical region (Qatar). During November 2017 to January 2018, a self-reported study of middle schoolchildren living in the Doha capital city of Qatar was conducted, and data gathered were evaluated in relation to the collected monthly pollen and fungal spores. Participants’ data were collected by conducting a survey based on a modified questionnaire adopted from the International Study of Asthma and Allergy in Childhood (ISAAC). The airborne pollen and fungal spore in Doha's atmosphere were extracted from the Doha aerobiology project (2017–2020). Among the 1000 distributed questionnaires, 100 were excluded due to significant missing data and 644 middle schoolchildren living in Doha city responded and were included in the final analysis. The symptoms of allergic rhinitis (AR) pattern among the responders with positive symptoms were strongly linked with the higher airborne fungal spore incidence during the month of November. Out of 331 students with positive symptoms, the prevalence of AR, lifetime wheeze, and eczema was 62.8%, 28.1%, and 26.6%, respectively. Asthma was significantly higher in Qatari (39.8%) compared to non-Qatari (26.7%) middle schoolchildren ( P = .02). Outdoor aeroallergen may be a contributing factor in addition to other environmental and genetic predisposing factors for childhood atopic diseases in the prevalence rate of allergic symptoms among middle schoolchildren in the peninsula of Qatar.