National Institute of Health and Medical Research, Paris, France.
French Agency for Food, environmental and Occupational Health & Safety, Maisons-Alfort, France.
Clin Toxicol (Phila). 2022 Feb;60(2):231-238. doi: 10.1080/15563650.2021.1919694. Epub 2021 May 14.
Contact with the setae of larvae (caterpillars) of pine or oak processionary moths could induce urticarial or allergic reactions in humans. These species are present in France and presently expanding towards highly populated areas due to climate change and/or human-mediated translocations. We aimed to describe the symptomatic cases of exposure to processionary larvae in France.
We conducted a retrospective study of symptomatic cases of exposure to processionary larvae registered by the French poison control centres between 1 January 2012 and 31 July 2019. We reviewed all medical records coded with the agent "larvae".
Of the 1274 included cases, 59% and 27% corresponded to pine and oak processionary larvae, respectively; the 14% remaining cases concerned unspecified processionary larvae. While the annual number of cases due to pine processionary larvae fluctuated during the study period, cases associated with oak processionary larvae increased steadily. Most of the annual cases occurred between January and May for pine processionary larvae, and April and August for oak processionary larvae (with a peak in March or June, respectively). Among the 1022 cases for which information was available, the sex ratio was 1.2 and the median age was 11 years old. Skin symptoms were reported by 96,3% of the cases, such as pruritus or urticaria. The severity was mild in 96.3% of cases, moderate in 3.5%, and severe in 0.2% (two cases). Ocular or oral exposures led more frequently to severe symptoms than dermal ones (respectively 31% and 18% vs. 2% of cases, < 10).
Since processionary moth larvae exposure is a growing health concern, which can cause severe injuries particularly after ocular or oral exposures, the population, and the professionals should be informed of existing recommendations to avoid exposure and measures to be taken after being exposed.
接触松毛虫或栎黄枯叶蛾幼虫（毛毛虫）的触毛可能会导致人类出现荨麻疹或过敏反应。这些物种在法国很常见，由于气候变化和/或人类介导的迁移，它们目前正向人口稠密地区扩散。我们旨在描述法国因接触毛毛虫幼虫而出现症状的病例。
我们对法国中毒控制中心 2012 年 1 月 1 日至 2019 年 7 月 31 日期间登记的接触毛毛虫幼虫的症状性病例进行了回顾性研究。我们审查了所有编码为“幼虫”的医疗记录。
在 1274 例纳入病例中，59%和 27%分别对应于松毛虫和栎黄枯叶蛾幼虫；其余 14%的病例涉及未指明的毛毛虫幼虫。虽然由于松毛虫幼虫而导致的年度病例数在研究期间波动，但与栎黄枯叶蛾幼虫相关的病例则稳步增加。松毛虫幼虫每年的病例大多发生在 1 月至 5 月，栎黄枯叶蛾幼虫则发生在 4 月至 8 月（分别在 3 月或 6 月达到高峰）。在 1022 例提供信息的病例中，男女比例为 1.2，中位年龄为 11 岁。96.3%的病例报告有皮肤症状，如瘙痒或荨麻疹。96.3%的病例为轻度，3.5%为中度，0.2%（两例）为重度。眼部或口腔暴露比皮肤暴露更容易导致严重症状（分别为 31%和 18%比 2%的病例， < 10）。
由于接触枯叶蛾幼虫日益成为健康关注的问题，特别是眼部或口腔暴露后可能会导致严重伤害，因此应向民众和专业人员告知现有的建议，以避免接触和暴露后的应对措施。
