Abstract

The presence of pollen in the air can cause hay fever. Severe complaints can greatly constrain the lives of patients. On behalf of a large number of organisations involved, two pollen experts have asked the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport to improve the public information provided to people with hay fever. As part of this, it has been suggested to set up a pollen monitoring network. This is because the number and type of pollen varies depending on the location, time of day, season, and weather type.

At present, two hospitals, one in Leiden and one in Helmond, manually count the pollen that were present in the air in the local area the week before. The Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, RIVM, advises the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport to set up automatic pollen counters at these two locations. Automatic pollen counting reduces the workload and provides real-time information on the pollen present in the air at any given time. With manual counting, this information is only available after the fact. In addition, automatic counts can better predict the number of pollen in the air in the coming days.

RIVM advises to improve the public information provided to hay fever patients. This includes the information about pollen, allergy tests, and medication and steps you can take to reduce complaints. With clear information, patients can adjust their behaviour and medication to the pollen in the air, and in this way reduce their hay fever complaints.

RIVM also advises to examine how many locations with pollen measurement equipment would at minimum be required for an optimal network in the Netherlands. Lastly, it is important to determine how many people suffer illness or discomfort due to hay fever and the cost of this to Dutch society.