Is thunderstorm asthma becoming more common?

With the arrival of spring comes warnings about thunderstorm asthma. But ten years ago, most of us hadn’t heard of it.

So where did thunderstorm asthma come from? Is this a brand new phenomenon?

In 2016, essentially the most on this planet catastrophic storm asthma the event took Melbourne by surprise. Part of the response to that is to extend warnings and monitoring.

However, there are also signs that climate change could also be making storm asthma more likely, with more extreme weather conditions, longer pollen seasons and a rise within the variety of Australians reporting hay fever.

A groundbreaking disaster

Many Australians first heard about thunderstorm asthma in November 2016, when: necessary event shook Melbourne.

Estimated during an overnight storm 10,000 people were taken to hospitals attributable to severe asthma attacks. Faced with 1000’s of calls to emergency numbers, ambulances and emergency departments were unprepared to deal with the rapid increase within the number of individuals requiring urgent medical care. Unfortunately, ten of those people died.

It was essentially the most catastrophic event within the history of thunderstorm asthma and the primary case of death anywhere on this planet.

The Victorian Department of Health responded implemented initiativesincluding public awareness campaigns and improving health and emergency services to arrange for future storm asthma events.

Network pollen monitoring stations also established statewide to gather data to assist predict future events.

An issue for several a long time

Although this event was unexpected, it was not the primary case of thunderstorm asthma in Australia – we have now known about it for a long time.

Melbourne reported its first case of thunderstorm asthma in 1984, only a 12 months after the phenomenon occurred first discovered in Birmingham, UK.

Since then, cases of thunderstorm asthma have been reported in other parts of Australia, including Canberra and New South Wales. But it continues to be most typical in Melbourne. Compared to some other city (or country), the difference is critical: over 1 / 4 of all known events worldwide took place in Melbourne.

Why Melbourne?

Melbourne’s location makes it a preferred location for all these events. Winds blowing from the north of Melbourne are frequently dry and hot because they arrive from the deserts of central Australia, while winds from the south are cooler because they arrive from the ocean.

When hot and funky air mix over Melbourne, it creates ideal conditions storms form.

Northern winds also bring large amounts of pollen from agricultural fields to the town, especially grass pollen. It’s not only that essentially the most common cause seasonal hay fever in Melbourne, but additionally a the primary factor causing thunderstorm asthma.

Why grass pollen?

There is a specific reason why grass pollen is the primary wrongdoer of thunderstorm asthma in Australia. During storms, the air may be very humid. The grass pollen will absorb this moisture, causing it to swell like a water balloon.

If the pollen absorbs an excessive amount of water within the air, it could crack or “rupture”, releasing a whole bunch of microscopic particles into the air that might be carried away by strong winds.

Typically, if you inhale pollen, it gets stuck in your upper respiratory tract – equivalent to your nose and throat. This is what causes the everyday symptoms of hay fever, equivalent to sneezing or a runny nose.

But microscopic particles released from torn grass pollen do much smaller and do not get stuck within the upper airway so easily. Instead, they will travel deep into the respiratory tract until they reach the lungs. This may cause more serious symptoms, equivalent to wheezing or difficulty respiratory, even in individuals with no previous history of asthma.

So who’s in danger?

You might think that asthma is the most important risk factor for thunderstorm asthma. In fact, the most important risk factor is hay fever.

Until 99% of patients patients who went to the emergency department on the 2016 Melbourne event had hay fever, while the bulk (60%) had not previously been diagnosed with asthma.

Every person hospitalized patients were allergic to a minimum of one sort of grass pollen. Everyone had a sensitivity to darnel.

Is thunderstorm asthma becoming more common?

Storm asthma events are rare and just occur 26 events officially recorded worldwide.

However, there’s evidence that these events may turn into more frequent and more severe in the approaching years attributable to climate change. They may cause higher temperatures and pollution plants produce more pollen AND pollen seasons last for much longer.

Extreme weather phenomena, including storms, also needs to be expected more frequent and more serious.

Additionally, there are signs that your hay fever is getting worse. The variety of Australians reporting allergy symptoms has increased 15% in 2008 to 24% in 2022 Similar trends in other countries has been linked to climate change.

How can I prepare?

Here are 3 ways to cut back your risk of thunderstorm asthma:

• get allergy medicines and put them on asthma motion plan together with your family doctor

• check day by day pollen forecasts to seek out out the estimated pollen concentration and risk of storm asthma in your area

• on days with plenty of pollen or a high risk of thunderstorm asthma, spend less time outdoors or wear surgical face mask to cut back symptoms.