[Pollinosis: clinical aspects and epidemiology. Contribution of the Allergy Clinic 1948-1998].

Pollinosis or hay fever is the most common allergic disease in Switzerland and also in the patients of the Allergy Unit of the Dermatologic Department of Dermatology of the University Hospital of Zurich. Clinical and epidemiological research concerning pollinosis has therefore always taken an important place, especially under Brunello Wüthrich. The most important clinical symptoms are seasonal conjunctivitis, rhinitis and in about 25% in a later stage also asthma. Pollinosis in central part of Switzerland is mainly caused by pollens of birch and related trees (alder, hazel), by pollen of ash and by pollen of grasses, rye and mugwort. The amount of measurable pollen is highly depending on geographic and climatic conditions and varies therefore considerably between different regions in Switzerland as well as different nations and continents. Hay fever has very much increased in the last decades; in the SAPALDIA study (Swiss Study on Air Pollution and Lung Diseases in Adults) a prevalence of up to 14% has been found recently. There are many causes not yet fully understood: genetics, different pollen exposure and some patterns of air pollution are discussed. A modern treatment of hay fever bases on prophylactic measures, symptomatic therapy with the now available efficient drugs with minimal side effects (topical drugs, oral antihistamines) and the specific immunotherapy.