Violent hay fever year: Expert explains why

Hard times for allergy sufferers: The pollen season started particularly early this year due to the warm winter. © Zacharie Scheurer

Expert Prof. Edda Weimann explains why allergy sufferers are suffering particularly this year. She also speaks of a connection between hay fever and climate change.

Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen – Spring is hay fever season. This year, however, many allergy sufferers complained about pollen count much earlier in the year – and the allergic reactions were often particularly severe. Even the rather rainy spring did not seem to bring any real relief. Edda Weimann, Professor of Pediatrics and Planetary Health at the Technical University of Munich, clearly links this phenomenon to climate change. The consequences of global warming on the health of children and adolescents is the renowned expert's specialty. In 2022, she had organized the symposium "Gaißacher Tage" on this topic.

Prof. Edda Weimann, Professor of Pediatrics. © Arp

Prof. Weimann, is the impression deceptive, or is this really a particularly severe hay fever year?

The pollen count started particularly early this year. At Christmas and New Year's Eve until February we had unusually warm temperatures. This has stimulated the plants and signaled to them: Now is spring. That's why some hazelnuts and alders bloomed in December, and birch pollen also flew particularly early. In general, it can be said that because we get warmer and warmer winter and autumn months, the pollen season starts earlier and ends later.

Living conditions for birch trees deteriorated

So the pollen season is longer. Is it also more intense?

Yes, sometimes it is more intense. This has been shown, for example, by studies with birch trees. In principle, the living conditions for birch have deteriorated due to the increasing drought. It responds to this by producing more aggressive pollen.

There is not so much drought to be felt this spring. The constant rainy weather should provide relief for allergy sufferers, but that doesn't seem to be the case. How can that be?

Continuous rain actually clears the air, and that's good for allergy sufferers. But even that can no longer be said in such a general way. Evolutionarily, organisms adapt to changing conditions, such as the fact that there is more frequent heavy rainfall – we have even had thunderstorms now, which is unusual in May. Nature is responding to this by changing the way pollen is dispersed. It can be observed that pollen falls with the rain as a whole to the earth, where it virtually explodes and releases even more allergens. This is a new phenomenon.

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Does climate change have an even greater impact on hay fever sufferers?

The CO2 in the air is almost a fertilizer for plants – the more CO2 there is in the air, the more they bloom and release more pollen. In addition, due to global warming, new plants such as ragweed are also settling in our latitudes, which distribute highly potent allergens.

Climate change also affects allergies

So climate change is increasing the problems for allergy sufferers?

Absolute! In the past, it was often said that children and adolescents are particularly affected by hay fever, and in many cases it "grows out" with adulthood. What we see today is that all age groups are affected and that more and more older people in particular are suffering from allergies. It cannot go on like this. If only if you calculate the costs in the health care system if allergy sufferers are exposed to allergens for longer and longer and thus fall ill.

What can be done about this development?

It's simple: the more climate change progresses, the more patients we get. That is why it is extremely important to meet the Paris climate protection targets. The latest World Climate Report of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, editor's note) already sees tremendous things ahead for the near future. Here, for example, we quickly slip into Spanish climatic conditions. This is not a question of well-being, but of our health and survival. We have to realize that the climate crisis is a health crisis. And health is the most important thing, even more important than the economy, because without a healthy population and a healthy environment, there is no healthy economy. What can and should be done is therefore to educate, disseminate knowledge and appeal to politicians to strictly adhere to climate protection targets.

How can I react at short notice as a victim?

If you are susceptible – by the way, people in the city are more at risk than in the countryside, as their respiratory tract is already attacked due to pollutants in the air, CO2 and fine matter pollution and pollen also spreads better – you can use apps or websites to find out about the pollen count and avoid certain areas or stay at home altogether. Depending on how severely you are restricted by hay fever, you can take antihistamines, which are drugs that slow down the release of allergens, or use a nasal spray with local cortisone. If you suffer badly, hypo- or desensitization makes sense. Biologics are also a therapeutic option – but they are very expensive and also have side effects. And then, of course, there are hygiene measures, such as washing your hair and taking off your clothes when you come from outside, and changing your bed linen.

Hay fever can severely reduce quality of life

What do you say when someone says that hay fever is a bit annoying at best, but not really bad?

It is true that many patients today are better medicated than they used to be. Fortunately, the fact that those affected die of asthma is no longer so common here. But there are also people who suffer from their allergy for an extremely long time and extremely severely. For example, it can cause upper airway obstruction. Mental health should not be forgotten either. If you can't go outside, especially when children can't play with others, then your quality of life is severely affected.

You can find even more up-to-date news from the region at Merkur.de/Bad Tölz.