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Detecting emerging risks in environmental health: the example of cypress pollinosis in Burgundy Volume 1, issue 4, Septembre - Octobre 2002

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Authors
Climat et Sante, Centre universitaire d'epidemiologie de population, Faculte de medecine, BP 87900, 21079 Dijon Cedex.

Cypress pollinosis, previously rare, is now a real public health problem in the south of France. It is still uncommon, nearly nonexistent, in the northern two thirds of the country. Yet cypresses are being planted there ever more often, and we must wonder whether the allergy situation in the south will move north. To try to respond to this question, we sought an allergic sensitization marker. Eosinophilia was assessed in the blood of a general population sample during routine blood tests (1996-1998) and then compared with daily pollen counts from the Hirst trap in Dijon. High levels of Cupressaceae-Taxaceae pollen were associated with eosinophilia in apparently non-allergic or at least asymptomatic subjects, thus confirming the reality of potentially allergic patients and potential allergens. These results suggest the need for immediate measures to prevent cypress pollinosis, including information campaigns directed at the public and local authorities about the importance of pruning cypresses and diversifying ornamental plantations.