Warning: Mugwort also a danger for pollen allergies

The European Centre for Allergy Research Foundation (ECARF) recommends elimination of mugwort plants as well as ragweed

Beginning at the end of July, many pollen allergy sufferers experience symptoms again in reaction to the North American ragweed plant, which is becoming increasingly more common in Europe. The allergen-heavy pollen can trigger severe hay fever and asthma in allergic persons, and also lead to new cases. For these reasons, aggressive programs of elimination are in place in several countries in order to reduce economic damage due to increased health care costs. However, such measures often overlook the fact that ragweed is only part of the yearly recurring problem for pollen allergy sufferers:

"Those who warn about ragweed should also act against the closely related mugwort plant," says Prof. Dr. med. Torsten Zuberbier, head of the European Centre for Allergy Research Foundation (ECARF). "Mugwort pollen not only cause the same hay fever symptoms as ragweed, but are also about nine times as common in our region of the world. In addition, persons with an allergy to mugwort very often have a cross-sensitivity with ragweed, which means that they react to both ragweed and mugwort pollen. It is therefore also advisable to remove mugwort along with ragweed as a measure in allergy prevention." 

Ragweed and its European relative

Ragweed is on the rise all over Europe, where its spread is aided by climate change and the international goods trade. About 15 percent of all European allergy sufferers are already sensitised to ragweed. A single ragweed plant produces up to 60 000 seeds, which remain germinable for up to 40 years and release up to 1 billion pollen grains. In addition to the imported Ambrosia artemisiifolia, the mugwort plant (Artemisia vulgaris), which has always been native to Europe, comes from the same family and produces pollen allergens that show 80% similarity to those of ragweed pollen. As a consequence, those who are allergic to mugwort also react to ragweed and vice versa. In Germany, about 25 percent of pollen allergy sufferers are sensitised to mugwort. The plant is very similar to ragweed in appearance, but with hairless stalks and leaves that are not green on the bottom but rather silver-white with dense hair. According to the  German Pollen Information Service (PID), the concentration of mugwort pollen in Germany is almost 10 times as high as that of ragweed. In the year 2009 a total of 5645 mugwort pollen and 630 ragweed pollen were counted at 33 measuring stations. Still, ragweed plants are much more common targets for removal programs than mugwort. The German capital Berlin, for example, would like to become the first ragweed-free European capital and is attempting to eradicate the plant with the help of so-called "Ambrosia-Scouts".

More on the topic can be found here: www.pollenstiftung.de (The mugwort-ragweed complex)

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