Climate Change’s Impact on Allergies, with Scott Commins, MD, PhD

Climate change was a hot topic at the 2025 American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology (AAAAI) annual meeting in San Diego from February 28 – March 3. Numerous experts have spoken on this topic, and many are concerned about the growing pollen count.

HCPLive sat down with Scott Commins, MD, PhD, from the University of North Carolina, to discuss his team’s session, “The Global Impact of Climate Change on Food Allergy,” slated to be presented on Monday, March 3. He noted that with climate change, pollen levels in plants continue to increase, and said pollen absorbs into the skin and may lead to allergies.

“One of the effects of that is something we call pollen food syndrome,” Commins said. “So not only can we see an increase in pollen allergies with climate change, but we can also see an increase in food allergies that are related to cross-reactivity with pollen.”

Beyond pollen food allergy, the prevalence of alpha-gal syndrome, which is linked to meat allergies, has risen in recent years.

“We think one of the biggest is the warmer winters have led to increased deer migration,” Commins said. “We find particularly in the US white-tailed deer now have an expanding geographic range. What that does is bring ticks into communities where they may not have been in the past, and that puts more people at risk for alpha-gal syndrome.”

Commins explained that alpha-gal syndrome is triggered by tick bites. Along with the US, Europe, Australia, and part of Asia have had an increase in ticks, and subsequently, alpha-gal syndrome.

“The intersection of environmental changes and allergies really seems to be something that is increasing in awareness and diagnosis,” he said. “We have to maintain an openness to finding more and more patients that are suffering from both eczema, food allergies, and even the mammalian meat allergy Alpha gal syndrome. What we've asked for our health care providers is to just be on the lookout for diagnoses that maybe you haven't seen in the past.”

Relevant disclosures for Commins includes Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Genetech USA, and AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals.

References

Lack, G, Skypala, L, Commins, S, et al. The Global Impact of Climate Change on Food Allergy. Session presented at AAAAI 2025 in San Diego on March 3, 2025.