Thunderstorm asthma was the cause of death of four Australians
Small pollen particles not deposited in the nose and reach the lungs, causing asthma attacks.
After thunderstorms in the Australian state of Victoria flash thunderstorm asthma led to the hospitalization of several hundred people in Melbourne, four people were killed. It is reported by CBSNews.
Thunderstorm asthma (thunderstorm asthma) — is rarely observed phenomenon that occurs, usually during a thunderstorm.
The pollen in the air, gaining too much moisture, then breaks into smaller particles, which are dispersed by wind over a large area. Such small pollen particles not deposited in the nose and reach the lungs, causing asthma attacks.See also
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After the storm, held in the Australian state of Victoria, ambulance service staff responded to 1,870 calls, which is six times the daily rate. While asthma attacks were observed even in patients not previously suffered from asthma. According to the Associated Press, the reason for Melbourne flash thunderstorm asthma was the pollen cocklebur.
In total there are about ten significant thunderstorm outbreaks of asthma. The previous incident occurred in November 2013 in Iran, then the storm caused an asthma attack two thousand people. This case is described in detail in an article published in the Journal of Environmental and Public Health.
Nikolai Vorontsov