The primary medical institutions in August reported over 600 patients who had allergic symptoms caused by ambrosia. According to the methodology used by the WHO, the reported number should be multiplied by ten. This means that at least 6,000 cases of such allergic reactions occurred in the municipality of Chisinau in August. At national level, the number is definitely higher, the chief health officer of Chisinau Boris Gîlca told a news conference centering on the measures taken to fight ambrosia in the capital city, IPN reports.
Boris Gîlca said the treatment of allergic reactions includes lab tests for allergens, which are very costly and private laboratories profit from this. To public labs of hospitals and of local medical associations, the National Health Insurance Company does not allocate money for doing such tests and the patients pay themselves.
The chief health officer also said that the treatment administered without consulting the doctor is inefficient in most of the cases. The patient needs to follow two-three types of treatment until the efficient method is found. “We urge you not to resort to self-medication. This will lead to unjustified additional costs. The treatment will be inefficient,” said Boris Gîlca, calling on those affected to see the family doctor.
Victoria Covali, director of the Green Areas Association, said that constant effort is made in the municipality of Chisinau to destroy these plants. Measures are taken from June until September. “The methods are aimed at preventing the budding of the plant when it is most aggressive,” she stated, noting that they cannot intervene in the case of privately owned land and their efforts are this way useless.
Ambrosia artemisiifolia, with the common names common ragweed, annual ragweed, and low ragweed, is a species of the genus Ambrosia native to regions of the Americas. It is the most widespread species of the genus in North America, to which most of the other species of Ambrosia are endemic. During the summer it causes allergic reaction in those that are susceptible.
