Use of face masks and allergic rhinitis from ragweed: Why mention only total pollen count and not air pollution levels?

Liccardi, Gennaro; Martini, Matteo; Bilò, Maria Beatrice; Milanese, Manlio; Rogliani, Paola

doi:10.1002/alr.22934

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

References 5 publications

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“…Due to most countries implementing strict COVID-19 restrictions, there has been a significant reduction in hospital presentations with asthma, general practitioner consultations, medication use, and severity of respiratory symptoms [1][2][3][4]. Wearing face masks [5][6][7], self-medication [3], less time spent outdoors [2,8], use of indoor air purifiers [9], and reduced ambient air pollution resulting from a lack of traffic (e.g., NO 2 , CO 2 and particulate matter) [10] reduces the risk of not only COVID-19 infection, but also respiratory symptoms caused by environmental triggers such as pollen. For instance, studies have found that face masks are effective in reducing allergic rhinitis, especially nasal symptoms, in those with pollen allergies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Review of the Role of Pollen in COVID-19 Infection

Idrose

Zhang

Lodge

et al. 2023

IJERPH

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There is current interest in the role of ambient pollen in the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19) infection risk. The aim of this review is to summarise studies published up until January 2023 investigating the relationship between airborne pollen and the risk of COVID-19 infection. We found conflicting evidence, with some studies showing that pollen may increase the risk of COVID-19 infection by acting as a carrier, while others showed that pollen may reduce the risk by acting as an inhibiting factor. A few studies reported no evidence of an association between pollen and the risk of infection. A major limiting factor of this research is not being able to determine whether pollen contributed to the susceptibility to infection or just the expression of symptoms. Hence, more research is needed to better understand this highly complex relationship. Future investigations should consider individual and sociodemographic factors as potential effect modifiers when investigating these associations. This knowledge will help to identify targeted interventions.

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