Despite its poetic name, ragweed is a real scourge for people who suffer from pollen allergies. This plant, native to North America, causes severe allergies during its flowering period in August and September. Here is everything you need to know about this highly allergenic herb in 3 questions.
Common ragweed or Ambrosia artemisiifolia is an herbaceous plant of the same family as the Sunflower, the Asteraceae or Compositae family.
It is an invasive annual plant that develops on vacant and poorly maintained land, construction sites, roadsides, and fallow fields. It takes the form of a bush that can reach over a meter in height. But it is especially recognizable by its foliage. It has thin, highly dissected leaves, the same green on each side, which distinguishes it from mugwort.
This invasive plant becomes problematic during its flowering period, at the end of summer and in autumn. The male flowers, which are grouped in long, visible spikes, release large quantities of highly allergenic pollen.
Ragweed pollens are both highly volatile and highly allergenic.
They can disperse over more than 150 kilometers, and just a few grains of pollen per cubic meter of air are enough to trigger allergic reactions in sensitive individuals.
This plant is very common in Rhône-Alpes and neighboring regions (Rhône corridor, Saône valley, Isère), where ragweed allergy affects 6 to 12% of the population from mid-August to October. In these regions, the plant is under constant surveillance and uprooting campaigns are conducted.
The most common symptoms are those of hay fever:
• nasal discharge and sneezing;
• conjunctivitis and tearing;
• respiratory symptoms such as cough, asthma, and tracheitis;
• skin symptoms: hives or eczema.
The severity and frequency of the observed symptoms are directly proportional to the concentration of pollen grains in the air.
Since the pollen season of this plant is one of the longest (nearly two months), more and more people are affected by this allergy in France. Future estimates are alarming and indicate that 15% of the French population could become allergic to this pollen by 2050.
The fight against ragweed concerns not only communities but also farmers and individuals.
The main measures to prevent allergies to this plant are:
• Developing fallow land.
• Pulling, mowing, or chemical weeding before flowering.
The National Aerobiological Surveillance Network (RNSA) is responsible for informing citizens about this scourge. Everyone is encouraged to report infested areas or destroy this plant if they can.
The period of June-July is the most suitable for pulling this plant before its flowering period. For manual pulling, wearing gloves is recommended.
According to official recommendations, avoid intervening during the flowering period. To act during this period, wearing a mask is essential.
Author Audrey on 22 November 2022
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