title: Parietariapollination duration: myth or fact?
abstract: Background.Even though the Parietaria pollen season may be rather long, it is commonly thought that Parietaria pollen is a perennial allergen present along the whole year.Objective.This study aimed at investigating the duration of Parietaria pollen season during a 10-year period in Italy, analysing also the annual pollen quantity and the differences among geographical areas.Methods.Pollen count was assessed daily for 10 years. Globally, ten Italian centers measured Parietaria pollen count. Start date, peak date, end date, duration (days), peak value, and seasonal pollen index were evaluated in each center.Results.Ten-year Parietaria pollen count demonstrates that the pollen season usually lasted for 6-7 months in Italy. There are important differences among centres, mainly attributable to geoclimatic factors.Conclusion.This study demonstrates that Parietaria pollen season lasts about 6-7 months with two peaks (mainly in spring and lower in autumn) in Italy with important geographical variations. This information may have clinical relevance in managing patients allergic to Parietaria.
authors.affiliation: ASL n. 1 Imperia, Italy.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ariano
authors.affiliation: UOSD Allergy and Clinical Immunology, USL4 Prato, Italy. Interdepartmental Centre of Bioclimatology, University of Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cecchi
authors.affiliation: Allergy Department, IRCCS-A.O.U San Martino di Genova, Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Voltolini
authors.affiliation: Ospedale di Faenza, Italy.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Quercia
authors.affiliation: ARPAC (Agenzia regionale Protezione Ambientale Campania).
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Scopano
authors.affiliation: Allergy Department, IRCCS-A.O.U San Martino di Genova, Genova, Italy. Phone: +39 10 3533 8120 E-mail: gio.cip@libero.it.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ciprandi
authors.affiliation: Renato Ariano, ASL 1 Imperia; Susanna Voltolini, Ospedale Genova San Martino; Daniele Berra, Elena Chiodini, Ospedale di Busto Arsizio (VA); Silvia Marvelli, Centro Agricoltura Ambiente Bologna; Luigi Giovanni Cremonte, ASL Alessandria; Maria Gabriella Mazzarello, ASL Alessandria; Oliviero Quercia, Francesca Emiliani, Ospedale di Faenza; Mario Olivieri, Morena Niccolis, Università di Verona; Salvatore Randazzo, ASP di Caltanissetta; Gaetano Zucchini, Ospedale di Città di Castello (PG).
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D032403:Parietaria / Q000276:immunology*; D054817:Pollination; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012621:Seasons; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: Italy; Parietaria; pollen; pollen count