Short-term effects of airborne pollens on asthma attacks as seen by general practitioners in the Greater Paris area, 2003-2007.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate for the first time the short-term effects of airborne pollen counts on general practitioner (GP) consultations for asthma attacks in the Greater Paris area between 2003-2007.


METHODS
Counts were available for common pollens (Betula, Cupressa, Fraxinus and Poaceae). Weekly data on GP visits for asthma attacks were obtained from the French GP Sentinel Network. A quasi-Poisson regression with generalised additive models was implemented. Short-term effects of pollen counts were assessed using single and multi-pollen models after adjustment for air pollution and influenza.


RESULTS
A mean weekly incidence rate of 25.4 cases of asthma attacks per 100,000 inhabitants was estimated during the study period. The strongest significant association between asthma attacks and pollen counts was registered for grass (Poaceae) in the same week of asthma attacks, with a slight reduction of the effect observed in the multi-pollen model. Adjusted relative risk for Poaceae was 1.54 (95% CI: 1.33-1.79) with an inter-quartile range increase of 17.6 grains/m3 during the pollen season.


CONCLUSIONS
For the first time, a significant short-term association was observed between Poaceae pollen counts and consultations for asthma attacks as seen by GPs. These findings need to be confirmed by more consistent time-series and investigations on a daily basis.
Huynh
Bich Tram
BT
INSERM and UPMC Paris VI EPAR, Medical School Saint-Antoine, Paris, France.
Tual
Séverine
S
Turbelin
Clément
C
Pelat
Camille
C
Cecchi
Lorenzo
L
D'Amato
Gennaro
G
Blanchon
Thierry
T
Annesi-Maesano
Isabella
I
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects; D000485:Allergens / Q000009:adverse effects; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D029662:Betula / Q000276:immunology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D029779:Cupressaceae / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D031661:Fraxinus / Q000276:immunology; D058006:General Practice / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010297:Paris / Q000453:epidemiology; D006109:Poaceae / Q000276:immunology; D016012:Poisson Distribution; D011058:Pollen / Q000009:adverse effects*; D012306:Risk; D012621:Seasons; D014887:Weather; D055815:Young Adult
D000485:Allergens