• In Rennes, a pollinarium has been installed for six years near the Parc du Thabor.

  • This place, which brings together the main allergenic plants of the region, is intended as a tool for the prevention of pollen allergies.

  • The start and end of pollen emission for each species are closely scrutinized by gardeners.

Milder temperatures, longer days and the sun finally coming back.

After months of gloom and a news that is for the less compelling, the arrival of spring on Sunday will do moral good.

But the return of sunny days is also synonymous with ordeal for the millions of French people allergic to pollen.

In the office of Dr. Mickaël Pouliquen, allergist at the Saint-Grégoire clinic near Rennes, consultations for allergic rhinitis, more commonly known as hay fever, have already begun.

"Mainly for alder and ash pollen for now," he says.

In the next few days, he expects a peak of activity with the first birch pollen, a very common allergy.

"Then there will be the period of grasses which extends from April to July with a peak towards the end of May or the beginning of June", specifies the allergist.

In addition to the pollen sensors installed in the four corners of France, the profession has had a new tool for fifteen years to prevent these allergies.

These are sentinel pollinariums that have emerged in several cities, mainly in the Great West.

Real-time monitoring of pollen emissions

That of Rennes, which opens its doors to the public this Saturday with guided tours, has been installed since 2016 above the square Lucien-Rose, very close to the Thabor park.

In this small garden, around fifteen plants common in the region have been planted, such as meadow foxtail, ribwort plantain, pedunculate oak or hazel.

"These are the species that have the most allergenic pollens", underlines Hervé Tiger, gardener-botanist at the city of Rennes and responsible for the pollinarium.

Every day, these plants are scrutinized by gardeners to detect the start and end of pollen emission for each species.

"We are thus closer to what happens in nature," he says.

The data is then compiled by the Alertes Pollens site, which then takes care of warning allergy sufferers and health professionals subscribed to the newsletter almost in real time.

Only about fifteen pollinariums in France

"It's a very useful prevention tool because it allows the patient to know when exactly to start his treatment and when to stop it," says Dr Mickaël Pouliquen, referent physician at the Rennes pollinarium.

The alerts also allow him to establish a very precise pollen calendar each year, which helps him to determine the allergies from which patients suffer.

"It's often very complicated because the pollens overlap," he says.

But depending on the date of appearance of the first symptoms, we can determine which species is likely to cause the allergy”.

Valuable witnesses to alert on pollens, pollinariums remain however still relatively unknown since there are only about fifteen cities.

“It would be a good thing for it to develop everywhere”, hopes Doctor Pouliquen.

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