title: Short term effects of airborne pollen concentrations on asthma epidemic.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Few studies have used time series to investigate the relationship between asthma attacks and aeroallergen levels on a daily basis.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study, based on time series analysis adjusting for meteorological factors and air pollution variables, assessed the short term effects of different types of allergenic pollen on asthma hospital emergencies in the metropolitan area of Madrid (Spain) for the period 1995-8.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Statistically significant associations were found for Poaceae pollen (lag of 3 days) and Plantago pollen (lag of 2 days), representing an increase in the range between the 99th and 95th percentiles of 17.1% (95% confidence interval (CI) 3.2 to 32.8) and 15.9% (95% CI 6.5 to 26.2) for Poaceae and Plantago, respectively. A positive association was also observed for Urticaceae (lag of 1 day) with an 8.4% increase (95% CI 2.8 to 14.4).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is an association between pollen levels and asthma related emergencies, independent of the effect of air pollutants. The marked relationship observed for Poaceae and Plantago pollens suggests their implication in the epidemic distribution of asthma during the period coinciding with their abrupt release into the environment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Statistics and Econometrics, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Getafe, Spain. atobias@est-econ.uc3m.es
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tobías
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Galán
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Banegas
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Aránguez
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects*; D000485:Allergens / Q000009:adverse effects*; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D004630:Emergencies; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D011058:Pollen / Q000009:adverse effects*; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000485:Allergens