Madeira—a tourist destination for asthma sufferers

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• 作者：Irene Camacho ; Agnieszka Grinn-Gofroń…
• 关键词：Allergy ; Aerobiology ; Meteorological parameters ; Holiday ; Circular statistics
• 刊名：International Journal of Biometeorology
• 出版年：2016
• 出版时间：November 2016
• 年：2016
• 卷：60
• 期：11
• 页码：1739-1751
• 全文大小：1,114 KB
• 刊物类别：Earth and Environmental Science
• 刊物主题：Life Sciences
  Animal Physiology
  Plant Physiology
  Environmental Medicine/Environmental Psychology
  
• 出版者：Springer Berlin / Heidelberg
• ISSN：1432-1254
• 卷排序：60

文摘

Madeira Island is a famous tourist destination due to its natural and climatic values. Taking into account optimal weather conditions, flora richness and access to various substrates facilitating fungal growth, we hypothesised a very high risk of elevated fungal spore and pollen grain concentrations in the air of Funchal, the capital of Madeira. Concentration levels of the most allergenic taxa were measured from 2003 to 2009, using a 7-day volumetric air sampler, followed by microscopy analysis. Dependence of bioaerosols on the weather conditions and land use were assessed using spatial and statistical tools. Obtained results were re-visited by a comparison with hospital admission data recorded at the Dr. Nélio Mendonça Hospital in Funchal. Our results showed that despite propitious climatic conditions, overall pollen grain and fungal spore concentrations in the air were very low and did not exceed any clinically established threshold values. Pollen and spore peak concentrations also did not match with asthma outbreaks in the winter. Identification of places that are “free” from biological air pollution over the summer, such as Madeira Island, is very important from the allergic point of view.