2023 Author: Bryan Walter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 22:24
Thunderstorm over Melbourne
After a thunderstorm in the Australian state of Victoria, an outbreak of thunderstorm asthma led to the hospitalization of several hundred people in Melbourne, four people were killed. It is reported by CBSNews.
Thunderstorm asthma is a fairly rare phenomenon that usually occurs during a thunderstorm. The pollen in the air picks up too much moisture, after which it breaks down into smaller particles, which are carried by the wind over a large area. Such small particles of pollen do not settle in the nose and easily enter the lungs, causing asthmatic attacks.
After a thunderstorm in the Australian state of Victoria, the state ambulance service responded to 1,870 calls, six times the daily rate. At the same time, asthmatic attacks were noticed even in patients who had not previously suffered from asthma. According to the Associated Press, chaff pollen was the cause of the Melbourne outbreak of thunderstorm asthma.
In total, about ten notable outbreaks of thunderstorm asthma are known. The previous case occurred in November 2013 in Iran, when a thunderstorm caused an asthma attack in two thousand people. This case is detailed in an article published in the Journal of Environmental and Public Health.
