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With Christmas coming around the corner many Americans will get themselves and their families Christmas trees and cacti. Approximate numbers of these trees were 33.02 million for real trees and 14.7 million for fake trees (NCTA, 2013). The mass consensus is that the use of Christmas trees are positive yet unfortunately having interactions with the less used Christmas Cacti can sometimes lead to undesirable effects. Individuals who had occupational exposures with Christmas Cacti were separated in groups of "cases" and "controls". After the "case" group was pricked with a Cactus needle, it was determined that 8% of the group was allergic towards Christmas Cacti. These allergies were mild, type 1 allergies that were in the form of urticaria and rhino conjunctivitis (Anderson, Bindslev-Jensen, Paulsen, Stahl, 2014). It was determined that fresh cacti leaves may have a variance in components throughout the year that individuals may have allergic reactions towards, especially ones who are occupationally exposed to cacti. With this noted, if there are any individuals who have the symptoms of urticaria (more commonly known as hives) and/or rhino conjunctivitis after contact with a Christmas Cactus, contact your primary physician or local health care provider to determine if the cactus exposure is the reason for the symptoms. Below are some examples of symptoms linked to an allergic reaction towards Christmas Cacti. -Happy Holidays
urticaria symptoms: Pruritus, Rash, Lesions, Skin eruptions, Irritation.
rhino conjunctivitis symptoms: nasal congestion, runny nose, post-nasal drip, sneezing, red eyes (conjunctivitis), and itching of the nose or eyes.
References
Immediate allergic and nonallergic reactions to Christmas and Easter cacti. (n.d.). Retrieved December
25, 2014, from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1034/j.1398-9995.1999.00016.x/full
National Christmas Tree Association News & Media Industry Statistics Consumer Survey. (n.d.).
Retrieved December 25, 2014, from
http://www.realchristmastrees.org/dnn/NewsMedia/IndustryStatistics/ConsumerSurvey.aspx
Urticaria. (n.d.). Retrieved December 25, 2014, from
http://www.rightdiagnosis.com/u/urticaria/intro.htm
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