Olive pollen levels have dropped to 233 grains per cubic meter after the last rains, although storms affect people with allergies
Olive pollen concentrations have dropped significantly as a result of rain since the middle of last week. As reported by the University Hospital of Jane, rain since Friday has reduced pollen levels of various species, though hardly of any intensity.
Thus, the olive tree, which is still at a high level, has decreased to 233 grains per cubic meter. Everyone else is on the lower level.
On April 17, the Allergy Clinical Management Unit of JN University Hospital resumed daily dissemination of pollen levels in the province from Monday to Friday, through its social networks, on Facebook, on Instagram and on Twitter. The peak of the season was reached on the 25th, when the concentration reached 5,656 grains per cubic meter. The figure is a far cry from the record peak reached in previous years, when more than 15,000 pollen grains were exceeded.
It was in May 2015 when a historical record of olive pollen was broken, reaching 19,840 grains per cubic meter in the atmosphere. In the same month, a few days earlier, the figures stood at 19,294 grains, according to the Allergy Service of the Jain Hospital Complex.
Professionals from the Jain Center’s allergology unit measure, among other pollens, olive tree and grass pollens, whose concentrations reach the highest levels in the Jain province. The purpose of this benefit is for patients to be able to initiate physical measures, such as avoiding their contact with pollen, and pharmacological measures, such as taking antihistamines or inhalers, which give them greater control over their allergic pathology and therefore , an improvement in their quality of life during these dates.
For this purpose the health center has installed a pollen collector on the ninth floor of the Maternal and Child Hospital, which uses the ‘HIST’ method to capture particles by suction according to the impact principle. The instrument is used by all the sampling stations connected to the Spanish Aerobiology Network (REA), as well as by the working groups of the different countries that are part of the European Aeroallergen Network (EAN).
This pollen collector consists of three units, which are impact units, a vane and a vacuum pump. The first has an entrance hole and a circular support or drum where the particles stick, which is attached to a clock and rotates at a rate of two millimeters per hour. It also has fixed tape impregnated with an adhesive so that the particles can be sucked out.
The weather vane attached to the outside protects the impact unit and its function is to keep the inlet opening in the direction of the prevailing winds, thereby increasing the efficiency of particle collection. The vacuum pump allows the suction of a set amount of air of 10 liters per minute.
The tape to which the pollen grains have adhered is placed on a holder to stain the sample with fuchsin. After this, readings are taken under a microscope and the average number of pollen grains per cubic meter of air is determined through a mathematical formula.
