Pollen season has started: new app aims to help allergy sufferers mitigate the effects

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“With quite a bit of force” and “earlier than usual,” the pollen season has started this year. Allergy sufferers are suffering more and more from the consequences of climate change. A new app aims to help them mitigate the effects.

The intensity of the burden can not yet be predicted, emphasized the Austrian Pollen Warning Service of MedUni Vienna and the information platform Interessensgemeinschaft Allergenvermeidung (IGAV ) on Tuesday. The reason for this is climate change, which confuses plants and affects people with pollen allergies and asthma. Higher temperatures change weather patterns, such as milder winters and extreme weather events.

Earlier and stronger than before
“The last winter joins the significantly too mild ones of the last decades,” said Harald Seidl of GeoSphere Austria. “In the lowlands, this winter was recorded as the sixth warmest in 256 years of measurement history.” He said the warm weather was ideal for plants to release their pollen to the wind, particularly early. “Hazel and alder began to bloom in the east this year as early as January, around a month earlier than the long-term average,” said Uwe E. Berger, head of the pollen warning service at MedUni Vienna.

However, allergy sufferers were not only surprised by the early appearance of the first symptoms, but the intensity also caught many unprepared. According to Berger, many had reacted more strongly than average to small amounts of pollen in the air. However, birch and ash trees had again taken more time and were only now ready to bloom. He said whether the delay affected the severity of symptoms could not yet be said.

A thunderstorm can trigger an asthma attack.
The changes in the climate do not only have a detour effect on plants but also directly on humans, especially those who suffer from persistent or recurring illnesses. “The weather itself does not make people sick. However, it can influence the course and intensity of illnesses,” explained biologist Holger Westermann, editor-in-chief of menschenwetter.at, a service platform for weather-sensitive people.

Very high temperatures, for example, can become a problem if they prevail in cities for a long period. Ozone and fine dust pollute the air we breathe, which can trigger asthma attacks. If the air does not cool at night, sleep quality deteriorates, and the organism cannot recover and reacts more sensitively to pollen. A supposedly redeeming summer thunderstorm causes the pollen to burst, releasing large quantities of allergens and posing a high risk of asthma attacks.

Pollen app with a thunderstorm warning
For this reason, the Austrian Pollen Warning Service expanded its warnings via app to include “Asthma Weather & Thunderstorm Warning.” “With ‘Asthma Weather’, which was developed in cooperation with www.menschenswetter.at, users receive information in five gradations as to whether the weather conditions of the day can lead to increased or decreased asthma symptoms,” says Markus Berger, medical officer of the Austrian Pollen Warning Service.

The expanded app now also displays thunderstorm warnings
“The ‘thunderstorm warning’ shows when thunderstorms are expected in the vicinity and whether ozone levels will rise. In addition, a recommendation is to stay indoors and get medicine in time.” The app is available for iOS and Android for free download on Pollenwarndienst.at the app stores. It also works beyond Austria’s national borders.