Ally Science

The amount of pollen in the air is on the increase, affecting cities in particular. In urban areas, road traffic emissions are associated with an elevated risk for allergy sufferers. Exhaust gases such as diesel soot particles, nitrogen oxides or ozone can change the structure of pollen and increase the quantity of allergens.¹

The ‘Ally Science’ app comes to the aid of the two million or so allergy sufferers in Switzerland. The app was launched in April 2018 by Bern University of Applied Sciences BFH and University Hospital Zurich (USZ) as the key component of the largest pollen study in Switzerland.

Allergy sufferers can keep an allergy diary, get the latest pollen count forecasts, create a symptom progress report and monitor where in Switzerland other app users are currently reporting symptoms. In addition, the anonymised health data thus collected contributes to improving early-warning systems and therapies for pollen allergy sufferers.

‘Ally Science’ is now also able to display the current local pollen concentration. The real-time data is obtained from the Poleno pollen monitor from the start-up Swisens. At present, one Poleno device is installed in each of the cities of Biel and Lucerne, with a third temporary device in Bern for the duration of the E-Prix.

For 2020 there are plans to offer real-time pollen data for other regions as well as a personal pollen early-warning system – another reason to start using the ‘Ally Science’ app now. Because the more allergy sufferers there are who regularly record their symptoms, the more detailed the information available to the early-warning system becomes.