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TheCOVID-19 pandemic has rapidly spread worldwide. Individual prevention approaches include FFP2/N95 mask use. Healthcare (HC) workers wear face masks for a long time during their work shifts and often complain of nasal symptoms. Current data on mask-associated symptoms or upper airway epithelium transformations are limited. Nasal cytology (NC) is a useful, non-invasive diagnostic method to assess cellular alterations. The aim of this study is to compare NC in HC workers before and after the continuous wearing of FFP2 face masks. We conducted a pilot observational study on 10 volunteer HC workers, who continuously used FFP2 masks during the work shift. All subjects underwent NC at the beginning (T0) and at the end of their workshift (T1) and the cytological findings were compared. Moreover, nasal symptoms were collected. Rare inflammatory cells were detected at T0 and, comparing cytological data about T0 and T1, no significant differences were observed. The most reported nasal symptoms were itching (70%) and a dry nose (60%). Difficulty of breathing and nasal blockage were not relevant. These preliminary data seem to suggest that wearing an FFP2 mask does not determine observable alterations in NC in daily work. However, further studies on a larger population for a longer period are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Italian data on the prevalence of allergic rhinitis are sparse and with wide variations, maybe because of different diagnostic criteria and methods of investigation. This study analyzes the information on rhinitis collected in northern Italy through standardized methods within the European Community Respiratory Health Survey. Methods: A screening questionnaire was sent by mail to a random sample of the general population aged 20–44 years, and nonresponders were contacted again by phone, achieving a final response rate of 86% (6031/7000). Among the responders, 914 randomly selected underwent a standardized clinical interview, skin prick test (SPT) and total and specific immunoglobulin (Ig)E determination. Results: The overall prevalence of self-reported allergic rhinitis was 15.9% (95% CI 15.0–16.8%). Allergic rhinitis was more common in men below 35 years and in women older than that (P = 0.006), in urban areas ( P < 0.001) and in early responders ( P < 0.001). A larger percentage of subjects (37.7%) reported nasal symptoms when exposed to indoor or outdoor allergens. Atopy was present in 79% of the subjects reporting allergic rhinitis. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that the prevalence of allergic rhinitis in northern Italy is similar to the prevalence observed in other European countries and that this disease is more common in urban areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]