The Influence of Pollen Concentration on the Dispension of Antihistaminics and Corticosteroids to Hay Fever Patients

Short-Term Effect of Pollen and Spore Exposure on Allergy Morbidity in the Brussels-Capital Region

“…Its maximal concentration was much higher than the one recorded in France for instance (up to eight times more) (Zeghnoun et al 2005 ; Fuhrman et al 2007 ). Analogous works showed similar results (Ravault et al 2005 ; Zeghnoun et al 2005 ; Fuhrman et al 2007 ; Sheffield et al 2011 ; Van Vliet and Tobi 2012 ; Caillaud et al 2015 ). Associations existed with Quercus but were inconsistent.…”

“…While this strategy permitted to catch mild cases who do not seek physician’s diagnosis, it also goes hand in hand with a loss of specificity by the inclusion of people with a wrong self-diagnosis or an influence of advertisements and promotions. In the Netherlands, all purchases of an oral antihistamine or a local anti-allergic drug were considered, as well as other ATC groups (Van Vliet and Tobi 2012 ). Moreover, data were aggregated to the weekly level in order to avoid the discrepancy between weekdays and weekends.…”

“…While some analysed the association between pollen levels and medication sales (Laaidi 2000 ; Christophe et al 2003 ; Ravault et al 2005 ; Sánchez-Mesa et al 2005 ; Zeghnoun et al 2005 ; Fuhrman et al 2007 ; Johnston et al 2009 ; Sheffield et al 2011 ; Van Vliet and Tobi 2012 ; Motreff et al 2013 ; Caillaud et al 2015 ) or medical visits (Pedersen and Weeke 1984 ; Breton et al 2006 ; Zhang et al 2012 ), others looked at emergency, department visits (Cakmak et al 2002 ), focusing on the most severe cases. Whereas some explored the relationship with time series designs (Cakmak et al 2002 ; Ravault et al 2005 ; Zeghnoun et al 2005 ; Breton et al 2006 ; Fuhrman et al 2007 ; Johnston et al 2009 ; Sheffield et al 2011 ; Van Vliet and Tobi 2012 ; Zhang et al 2012 ; Motreff et al 2013 ; Caillaud et al 2015 ), others used descriptive or correlation methods (Pedersen and Weeke 1984 ; Laaidi 2000 ; Christophe et al 2003 ; Sánchez-Mesa et al 2005 ), failing to adjust for confounders. In addition, local context including vegetation, topography, physician prescription behaviour, etc.…”

“…influences results and limits extrapolation to other regions. Based on time series analysis and restricting to the European context, a few studies highlighted the relationship between allergy medication sales and Alnus , Betula , Carpinus , Corylus , Cupressaceae, Fraxinus , Poaceae (also referred to as Gramineae), Olea , Plantaginaceae, Platanus , Quercus , Salix , Urticaceae pollen levels (Ravault et al 2005 ; Zeghnoun et al 2005 ; Fuhrman et al 2007 ; Van Vliet and Tobi 2012 ; Motreff et al 2013 ; Caillaud et al 2015 ). However, more than half of the studies concentrated on the same geographical area and data collection methods did not cover the whole studied population.…”