Evaluation Of American and European Pollen Data Sources To Identify Essential Attributes Of a New National Pollen Surveillance System In The United States

BACKGROUND: Currently available epidemiologic evidence has demonstrated the contribution of pollen to emergency department visits for respiratory chronic diseases, as well as the suggestion that the underlying mechanism could be an inflammatory response.  Therefore, a pollen alert system would be important for the purposes of education and intervention to health care providers and to sensitive populations, prior to the onset of the pollen season.  Additional unnecessary medical costs could be reduced further if there were a national pollen and respiratory health surveillance system with sufficient pollen counting stations in every US state.  The recommendations of a year-long investigation by representatives of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Environmental Public Health Tracking (EPHT) climate change, pollen sub-team, have been included in a pollen white paper.  This poster builds upon that activity by developing initial pollen surveillance system evaluation criteria and applying them to currently available pollen sources. 

METHODS: Minimum evaluation criteria for a national pollen and health surveillance system were developed.  Three pollen surveillance systems in the US (USA National Phenology Network, National Allergy Bureau network of 82 pollen counting stations and Pollen.com) and one in Europe (European Aeroallergen Network of 505 pollen counting stations) were evaluated.

RESULTS: No single pollen surveillance system met all of the minimum standards for a national pollen-respiratory health surveillance system.  Some of the limitations included: a) incomplete pollen counting station spatial-temporal coverage of impacted populations; b) different methods used to record pollen; c) pollen readings not always made daily; d) pollen spore counts not available by taxa; e) unable to identify maximum pollen levels within a 24-hour period; e) multi-day pollen alerts not issued; f) accuracy of pollen alerts not evaluated; g) recorded pollen data not easily available; h) respiratory health data not used to link with pollen data; i) funding and sustainability issues not adequately addressed.

CONCLUSIONS: These findings can form the basis for determining what important attributes should be included in a US pollen surveillance system.  Implementation of a national pollen surveillance system should contribute to the decrease of pollen induced respiratory illnesses, especially in sensitive populations and as an early warning system for health care providers.  Sustainability of a national pollen-respiratory health surveillance system could be justified by anticipated decreased medical costs as a result of lower exposure to pollen levels in this decade and to even higher climate change produced increases in pollen levels that will occur in future decades.