Association between climate indicators and hay fever incidence in children and adolescents in Freiburg, Germany

Allergic conditions including hay fever are a sentinel measure of environmental impact on human health in early life. In this study we investigated the association between climate indicators and allergic rhinitis (hay fever) incidence in children and adolescents in Freiburg im Breisgau (Germany), as a representative study site for an urban German environment.

Data on climate indicators and hay fever incidence in children and adolescents in the period 2013 to 2021 were implemented within the free software environment for statistical computing R using generalized additive Gamma family models.

Our results from all "seasonal", "non-seasonal", and "single-factor" models could not support the associations between the hay fever incidence and the precipitation as well as the concentrations of PM₁₀, NO₂, and O₃ in Freiburg. However, they indicated statistically significant associations with temperature, and wind speed at the 5% level. The hay fever incidence was highest, as the temperature was between 4-6°C, and 10-17°C, and the wind speed was between 2.0 and 2.1m/s.

This knowledge could be of relevance for the choice of patient treatment procedure in Freiburg, as the symptoms of a cold or flu can easily be mistaken for an allergy, especially in the cold season.