Beware of willow catkins during the Qingming Festival! Can catkins cause allergies?

"On the eve of the Qingming Festival, parts of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Shandong, Shaanxi and other places are expected to enter the period of poplar and weeping willow catkins floating," said Huang Zhuo, deputy director of the National Meteorological Center, at the China Meteorological Administration's April press conference held on April 1.

April 1 China Meteorological Administration held its April press conference

Flying catkins may fall from the sky on the eve of Qingming Festival

Huang Zhuo pointed out that late March to early May every year is the peak period for flying catkins, among which the period of rising temperature and sunny days with large temperature difference between day and night are the main meteorological conditions triggering flying catkins.

Specifically, when the daily average temperature is generally stable and exceeds 15°C for 3 consecutive days or more, especially when the daily maximum temperature exceeds 25°C and the sunshine hours exceed 6 hours, the sunlight will promote plant photosynthesis and fruit ripening, which will be beneficial for the female fruits of poplar and willow trees to mature, crack and release catkins.

Sunny weather is conducive to daytime sunshine and warming, and the large temperature difference between day and night will accelerate the release of flying catkins. If the relative humidity is low (less than 70%) and there is a breeze of 1-3, it will form favorable conditions for the flying catkins to disperse.

He pointed out that on the eve of the Qingming Festival, parts of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Shandong, Shaanxi and other places are expected to enter the period of poplar and weeping willow catkins.

Physical shielding to deal with flying catkins

How should the public respond to reduce the trouble caused by flying catkins? Huang Zhuo suggested that the public should pay attention to daily cleaning and try to close doors and windows at home. If flying catkins float in, they can use air filtering or purification equipment, and clean them with a vacuum cleaner in time, or spray water to moisten them before sweeping.

When going out, you can effectively physically shield yourself from flying catkins. For example, in terms of personal protection, wear a mask and goggles, choose clothes that are not easy to stick to flying catkins, and avoid contact with allergens; do not open the window when driving, and choose the internal circulation ventilation mode. After going out and returning home, take off your outer clothes in time and wash your face, nose, and mouth. In addition, you should try to avoid the high-incidence time and area of ​​flying catkins from 10 am to 4 pm.

Know the weather during the Qingming Festival in advance

The press conference also introduced the national weather and climate characteristics in March and the climate trend forecast for April.

Jia Xiaolong, deputy director of the National Climate Center, said that in March, the overall temperature in China was higher than normal, and there were obvious fluctuations due to the periodic cold air process; the precipitation was "more in the north and less in the south", and the meteorological drought continued in Guangxi and other places. It is expected that in April, except for most of the southwest region where the temperature is lower than the same period of previous years, the temperature in the rest of the country will be close to or higher than the same period of previous years. It is expected that four cold air processes will affect the northern part of my country.

In addition, during the Qingming Festival (April 4-6), the temperature in most parts of the north is high, with sunny or cloudy weather, and only light rain (snow) in northeastern Inner Mongolia, Jilin, Liaoning and other places. Some areas in southern Xinjiang and western Gansu will have blowing sand or dust.

Flying catkins are not "allergens", so why do they cause allergies?

Many people think that the flying "poplar fluff" is the culprit for seasonal allergies. But in fact, "poplar fluff" is wrongly blamed. Because poplars are divided into female and male trees, the "poplar fluff" we see is actually the seeds of poplars, which are released when the fruits of female trees mature and crack after being pollinated by wind. Allergies are mainly caused by pollen proteins, that is, the hundreds of millions of pollen particles produced by male trees. However, because pollen is invisible and intangible, it is not easy for people to realize the existence of pollen, so allergies are often mistakenly attributed to the visible poplar fluff.

Therefore, every year, half a month before the "poplar fluff" starts to fly, a large number of patients will have symptoms of rhinitis and conjunctivitis. Once diagnosed with "hay fever", patients need to take medicine in time, and never wait until the "poplar fluff" appears to take medicine. If rhinitis is not controlled in time, complications such as sinusitis, pharyngitis, cough, bronchitis, otitis media, etc. may occur...

Although poplar fluff itself is not an allergen, it may still cause headaches for some people with allergies because it may be mixed with pollen and dust.

Therefore, the most important thing to deal with allergies is to avoid allergens.