[Pollinosis and airborne pollen in Fukuoka City]

We investigated the relation between the incidence of pollinosis and pollen counts in Fukuoka City from 1983 to 1989 to clarify the "cause and effect" relationship and to evaluate the severity of pollinosis in this district. We collected questionnaires on pollinosis from six otorhinolaryngology clinics in our city during the pollination seasons from 1983 to 1989. Cryptomeria j., Cupressaceae and Gramineae pollens, which were sampled with Durham's samples from January to June, were sent from seven sampling locations in our city. The number of pollens was counted in our hospital. The total number of patients with pollinosis over the seven years was 4193. Females were numerous than males by one and a half times. The age group with the highest incidence was the thirties (41.9%), followed by the twenties (19.8%) and forties (18.4%). The incidence of Japanese cedar pollinosis was 92.6 percent and grass pollinosis 30.3 percent of all the patients because 23.0% of them overlapped. We found that the severity of nose and eye complaints and other symptoms of pollinosis in our study was milder than that in Tokyo and other Kanto districts. Annual changes in total pollen counts were remarkable, and a high incidence of Japanese cedar pollinosis was found as total pollen counts of Cryptomeria j. and Cupressaceae increased in Fukuoka City.