2023-08-28 08:28:58
The National Aerobiological Surveillance Network warns of a high risk of allergy to Ambrosia pollen in many departments of the Rhône and Loire valleys.
The pollen season is not over yet. At least not for Ambrosia pollens, reputed to cause late allergies, the peak pollination of this weed occurring between mid-August and mid-September. The National Aerobiological Surveillance Network (RNSA) launched the alert on August 25 and placed 13 departments at “high level” allergic risk.
This concerns Drôme, Ardèche, Isère, Rhône, Ain, Nièvre, Cher, Indre, Creuse, Allier, Saône et Loire, Vaucluse and Gard.
Between 1 and 3.5 million allergic French people
The RNSA also cites “the Mareuil sector in Dordogne” and specifies that other pollens can also circulate in the air. Although in smaller quantities, they promote a cocktail effect and the passage from a low risk to a medium risk of allergy in certain departments.
This alert should be taken seriously by people sensitive to Ambrosia pollen. Between 1 and 3.5 million French people are allergic to this plant, according to the National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety (ANSES). With more or less disabling symptoms.
These are classic symptoms of a pollen allergy, namely rhinitis, conjunctivitis, but with symptoms that are often more intense, more severe”, specifies allergist Patrick Ajzenberg at the microphone of BFMTV.
“We frequently have asthmatic-type respiratory manifestations. We even sometimes have skin reactions, which can give eczema, hives. It’s very debilitating,” adds the doctor.
Fortunately, following the heat wave, the showers and stormy rains are back in the Rhone Valley. Something to bring some respite to allergy sufferers.
On days when it rains, there are fewer pollens in the air because they are on the ground. On the other hand, as soon as the weather is nice once more, just following, the pollen will continue to disperse and be present in the air, explained to BFMTV Gilles Oliver, aerobiologist of the RNSA.
“And it’s only when the pollination period is over that there will really be no more pollen in the air,” he warns. The ragweed pollen season is expected to continue until the end of September, with peak intensity expected these days.
The Rhône and Loire valleys today represent the main focus of this invasive plant, native to North America. But since 2005, “ragweed populations always seem, and more and more, in full progression and densification on the metropolitan territory”, underlines ANSES.
The agency advises pulling the plant before it blooms in late summer, if you have one in your garden. Be careful to uproot the plant, wearing gloves. There are several species of ambrosia, some of which reach up to four meters in height. Outside your property, if you spot this weed in large quantities, you can report it on signalement-ambroisie.fr, reminds ANSES.
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