New app for pollen allergy sufferers

The Bern University of Applied Sciences (BFH) and the University Hospital Zurich (USZ) have launched the free smartphone app "Ally Science". This is part of the largest scientific study to date on pollen allergies in Switzerland. With the intuitive app, which is available in all four national languages as well as in English, users document their complaints. They also receive Pollen forecasts as well as exclusively a presentation on the current development of allergy symptoms in the various regions. By participating in the study, they are helping to improve early warning systems and therapies for pollen allergy sufferers in the future. The data collected via the app is stored in personal accounts on the secure MIDATA IT platform developed by ETH Zurich and BFH. The user can thus always decide alone who he wants to grant access to his anonymized data for research purposes.

Around two million people in Switzerland suffer from physical complaints during the pollen season. These include burning eyes, dripping nose, itchy skin, sore throat, and Shortness of breath. It is not yet known in which regions (cantons, urban and rural areas) the symptoms occur particularly frequently or severely and by which factors (type of pollen, fine dust, weather, etc.) they are influenced. The Allergy Ward of the Dermatology Clinic of the University Hospital Zurich now wants to get to the bottom of these questions in a scientific study in all regions of Switzerland.

Added value for pollen allergy sufferers

The core element of the study is the "Ally Science" app. It is now available for download in German, French, Italian, Rhaeto-Romanic and English and allows all interested pollen allergy sufferers in Switzerland to participate in the study. The data will be anonymized. Each additional user will make the scientific survey more meaningful and the resulting added value for all pollen allergy sufferers greater. "The aim is to improve pollen early warning systems, consultations and therapies thanks to the knowledge gained via the study," says Prof. Peter Schmid-Grendelmeier, Head of the USZ Allergy Ward.

The app was designed and developed at the Bern University of Applied Sciences in collaboration with the company ELCA Informatik AG. "It was important to us that the app is graphically attractive as well as intuitive and offers real added value for users," says Prof. Serge Bignens, head of the Institute for Medical Informatics. "It takes less than 20 seconds to enter symptoms in the personal allergy diary." Pollen forecasts from MeteoSwiss are also prepared on a special map. By keeping a diary on the app, users can also see in real time how allergy symptoms are developing in the various regions. The development over the last 24 hours and the last few days can also be called up.

Control over your own health data

The data collected with the app is stored in encrypted form on the MIDATA IT platform. The platform is operated by the non-profit MIDATA cooperative. MIDATA was co-founded by ETH professors Ernst Hafen and Donald Kossmann. MIDATA allows citizens to securely store their health data, retain control over its use, and release it for research purposes in anonymized form according to their own interests and needs. The proceeds from making data available are reinvested in the services offered on the MIDATA IT platform and in other research projects. Thus, it does not benefit a single company, but society as a whole.

Project partner

"Ally Science" is finally also distinguished by the know-how brought in and the commitment of other weighty partners. These are:

• the indoor climate specialist Dyson, Zurich, (Competence Partner Industry)
• the aha! Allergy Center Switzerland, the independent foundation for people with allergic diseases, Bern
• the Digital Design Agency Superhuit, Lausanne

Info and download "Ally Science" app

Text: Bern University of Applied Sciences, Institute for Medical Informatics