ABSTRACT
Background: It is known that an increase in the risk of asthma exacerbations (AE) requiring emergency department (ED) presentation is demonstrated in children and adolescents exposed to outdoor pollen. On the other hand, COVID-19 lockdown represented a real-life experiment of pollen avoidance for children affected by pollen allergy. This study aims to test if pollen avoidance prevents asthma exacerbations in children affected by pollen allergy in an ED setting. Method: It is a retrospective study involving all children with a known diagnosis of pollen-allergy asthma who attended our ED for an AE in the town of Mantova and its provincies in the period March 09-May 03 of the years 2018, 2019 and 2020. This period was chosen because it coincided with the Italian COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. Results: In 2020, 4 (0.7%) children with a known diagnosis of pollen-allergy accessed the ED for an AE. On the other hand, pediatric access for this specific type of illness was a total of 20 (0.5%) and 12 (0.3%) in 2018 and 2019 in the same period. Specifically, the rate of hospitalization was 0 in 2020 versus 3 (15%) and 1 (8.3%) in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Regarding patients' ongoing treatment, 1 (25%) patient was under asthma maintenance therapy in 2020 versus 3 (15%) and 5 (41.6%) in 2018 and 2019, respectively. In addition: the male/female rate was 50% in 2020 versus 55% and 83.3% in 2018 and 2019, respectively. About median age (years), it was 14.7 in 2020 versus 9.5 and 6.8 in 2018 and 2019, respectively (tab. 1). Conclusion: The inevitable pollen avoidance during COVID-19 lockdown could prevent AE in children affected by pollen allergy. Anyway, further study should be performed to confirm this preliminary experience. (Table Presented).