TY  - JOUR
AU  - Albertini, Roberto
AU  - Mohieldin Mahgoub Ibrahim, Mostafa
AU  - Coluccia, Alessia 
AU  - Pezzato, Marta
AU  - Colucci, Maria Eugenia
AU  - Zoni, Roberta
AU  - Affanni, Paola
AU  - Veronesi, Licia
AU  - Pasquarella, Cesira
TI  - Immigrants and seasonal respiratory allergies: An observational look at internet search flows – The situation in Italy
PY  - %2026/%06/%04
Y2  - %2026/%08/%27
JF  - Annali di Igiene Medicina Preventiva e di Comunità
JA  - Ann Ig
VL  - 38
IS  - 1
SE  - Review
DO  - 10.7416/ai.2026.18481
UR  - https://doi.org/10.7416/ai.2026.18481
SP  - 18481
AB  - Background: The prevalence of respiratory allergic diseases is increasing worldwide. In Europe, migration is a significant phenomenon, but little is known about their epidemiology in immigrants, normally coming from low-income countries and showing lower prevalence than natives. Over time, seasonal respiratory allergies increase with different patterns among first- and second-generation immigrants. Airborne pollen can be an indicator of exposure to airborne allergens, but traditional monitoring using Hirst-type samplers requires considerable resources, time consuming and delay of data. As a complementary and low-cost alternative, researchers are increasingly analysing internet search behaviour to monitor allergy-related phenomena. This study evaluated Google Trends (GTs) as an indicator for the epidemiological surveillance of seasonal pollen-related allergies among different immigrant populations living in Italy, considering that immigrants represent 8.8% of the Italian population.Methods: By GTs we analysed flow, searched for terms related to allergy and performed in different languages from 2009 to 2019. The search terms such as “allergy”, “rhinitis”, “asthma”, “antihistamine” and “pollen” were analysed. Descriptive statistics and correlations were performed.Results: Cross-language GTs analyses showed distinct seasonal peaks mostly in April and May but also in June, August and October with correlations between some languages.Discussion: Language-specific search suggests varying awareness, health-seeking behaviour and exposure patterns among immigrant communities.
ER  -