Children’s Hospital of Richmond sets up Central Virginia’s first pollen counting station
VENN
RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- The first pollen counting station within Central Virginia has been established at Children's Hospital of Richmond (CHoR) at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU).
Richmond has been ranked the eighth most difficult city for people with seasonal pollen allergies to live in by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.
Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU establishes Virginia’s first pollen counting station. Jessica Hess, CPNP collects the pollen dada on April 24, 2025. (Eva Russo, Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU)
Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU establishes Virginia’s first pollen counting station. Jessica Hess, CPNP collects the pollen dada on April 24, 2025. (Eva Russo, Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU)
As a result, this new National Allergy Bureau (NAB) pollen counting station will collect data to help with symptom management for people with allergies, as well as medical teams, according to a VCU release.
In terms of the pollen collection and counting process, an air sampler sits on top of the VCU Health Adult Outpatient Pavilion in downtown Richmond and collects a "continuous sample" as it moves with the natural flow of the wind, as described by VCU.
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This project was made possible in part by Jessica Hess, a nurse practitioner and member of CHoR's allergy and immunology team, who is now an NAB certified pollen counter. Once a week, Hess will unload the sampler, study the collection under a microscope and identify pollen grains through several factors.
Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU establishes Virginia’s first pollen counting station. Jessica Hess, CPNP collects the pollen dada on April 24, 2025. (Eva Russo, Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU)
Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU establishes Virginia’s first pollen counting station. Jessica Hess, CPNP collects the pollen dada on April 24, 2025. (Eva Russo, Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU)
Additionally, the pollen data is put into an NAB database -- which people can access by setting up an account with the NAB website.
Another key person involved with the project is Wei Zhao, M.D., a professor and chief of allergy and immunology at CHoR.
Zhao, Hess and the members of their team said that this data will help pinpoint the start, peak and end of pollen seasons in the Richmond region, adding that it will probably take around three years of data collection to "correlate trends."
Click here for more information from VCU Health.
