Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2018 Oct 29;18(12):73.
doi: 10.1007/s11882-018-0829-z.

Defining Pollen Seasons: Background and Recommendations

Katharina Bastl  1 , Maximilian Kmenta  2 , Uwe E Berger  2
Affiliations
Review

Defining Pollen Seasons: Background and Recommendations

Katharina Bastl et al. Curr Allergy Asthma Rep. .

Abstract

Purpose of review: The definition of a pollen season determines the start and the end of the time period with a certain amount of pollen in the ambient air. Different pollen season definitions were used for a long time including the use of different terms for data and methods used to define a pollen season. Recently suggested pollen season definitions for clinical trials were tested and applied for the first time to more aeroallergens.

Recent findings: This is a review on pollen season definitions and the latest recommendations. Recently, proposed terminology in aerobiology is promoted here in order to support reproducibility and repeatability in research. Two pollen season definitions, one based on percentages and one based on pollen concentrations, were tested. Percentage definitions can be recommended for standard aerobiological routines and for retrospective applications, whereas pollen concentrations definitions can be recommended for prospective applications such as clinical trials.

Keywords: Aerobiology; Allergen exposure; Clinical trials; Main pollen season; Pollen concentration; Pollen season definition.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Pollen concentrations (grey curve and left y-axis; upper hazel (Corylus), middle alder (Alnus), lower birch (Betula)) and symptom load index (black curve and right y-axis) for important shrub/tree taxa in Austria. Data originates from Vienna for pollen concentrations and from the Pannonian Lowlands (Eastern part of Austria) for the symptom data. Grey arrows mark the EAN definition based on percentages. Black arrows mark the EAACI definition based on pollen concentrations on daily basis and a certain sum for the start and end. Note the longer duration of the pollen season based on the EAN definition except for birch
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Pollen concentrations (grey curve and left y-axis; upper grasses (Poaceae), middle mugwort (Artemisia), lower ragweed (Ambrosia)) and symptom load index (black curve and right y-axis) for important herbaceous taxa in Austria. Data originates from Vienna for pollen concentrations and from the Pannonian Lowlands (Eastern part of Austria) for the symptom data. Grey arrows mark the EAN definition based on percentages. Black arrows mark the EAACI definition based on pollen concentrations on daily basis and a certain sum for the start and end. Note the longer duration of the pollen season based on the EAN definition except for grasses
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Jato V, Rodriguez-Rajo FJ, Alcázar P, De Nuntiies P, Galán C, Mandrioli P. May the definition of pollen season influence aerobiological results? Aerobiologia. 2006;22:13–25. doi: 10.1007/s10453-005-9011-x. - DOI
    1. Bastl K, Kmenta M, Geller-Bernstein C, Berger U, Jäger S. Can we improve pollen season definitions by using the symptom load index in addition to pollen counts? Environ Pollut. 2015;204:109–116. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2015.04.016. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Karatzas K, Riga M, Berger U, Werchan M, Pfaar O, Bergmann KC. Computational validation of the recently proposed pollen season definition criteria. Allergy. 2018;73(1):5–7. doi: 10.1111/all.13255. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Karatzas K., Katsifarakis N., Riga M., Werchan B., Werchan M., Berger U., Pfaar O., Bergmann K.-C. New European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology definition on pollen season mirrors symptom load for grass and birch pollen-induced allergic rhinitis. Allergy. 2018;73(9):1851–1859. doi: 10.1111/all.13487. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Pfaar O, Bastl K, Berger U, Buters J, Calderon MA, Clot B, et al. Defining pollen exposure times for clinical trials of allergen immunotherapy for pollen-induced rhinoconjunctivitis – an EAACI position paper. Allergy. 2017;72:713–722. doi: 10.1111/all.13092. - DOI - PubMed