While ragweed has been the main airborne allergen reported in Romania since 2008, this year another extremely dangerous agent was detected, mould, which is being investigated by specialists from western Timisoara, who make data collected available to specialists from all over Europe, Chair of the Romanian Society of Allergology and Clinical Immunology (SRAIC) Carmen Bunu said on Wednesday at the opening of the Allergology Department at the Timisoara County Hospital.
"We are the only hospital in Romania that has a pollen and all aeroallergen monitoring network. While we know that pollen and ragweed are a danger, I would like to point out that another extremely dangerous agent is emerging. There are a series of moulds in the air, which we did not know about until now. We can identify accurately, permanently, which allergens are in the air, and since last year there has been an application on the phone, Alergotel, provided by a consortium of doctors of the Timisoara County Hospital, together with colleagues from the Victor Babes University of Medicine and Pharmacy Timisoara and the University of Life Sciences Timisoara, that certifies the presence of certain airborne allergens. Most of the pollen comes from the countryside and affects those in the city, because pollution adds up," said Bunu.
"We are the only team in the area that is a part of a European project, Montadap, which aims to see how a hospital adapts to a public health problem. We are the only centre in this European project that understands these problems related to allergies. We will be able to take measures to respond to the presence of airborne allergen, for the whole of Europe. (...) There are immunotherapy products, ragweed extracts with a few small side effects that we will be able to stop, if we manage to create a real vaccine," the Timisoara-based allergist said.
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