Thunderstorm-triggered asthma attacks put under the microscope in Australia

Thunderstorms bring wind, rain, loud rumbles,
and flashes of lightning.
But researchers have known since the 1980s
that they can also bring on asthma attacks.
In one extreme case during a 2016 thunderstorm
in Australia,
thousands of people experienced asthma attacks,
and at least nine people died.
Thunderstorm asthma events have been
reported in Australia,
Europe, North America, and the Middle East.
But researchers are only now coming to understand
how one leads to the other --
and how to set up warning systems.
It’s thought that pollen is the likely trigger
for thunderstorm asthma.
But pollen grains are too large to be directly inhaled
into lung tissue to cause an asthma attack.
A thunderstorm can change that though,
by sweeping up pollen grains kilometers into the sky.
There the grains encounter high humidity
that scientists believe causes the large grains
to swell and rupture into hundreds of smaller pieces.
Riding downdrafts in the storm,
the pollen shrapnel comes crashing back to Earth --
and it’s small enough to enter the lower respiratory tract
and cause an inflammatory response
like an asthma attack.
In Melbourne, Australia, thunderstorm asthma
has been reported seven times since 1984.
The city appears to have all the right conditions
for an epidemic of this sort: nearby fields
of pollen-producing rye grass,
regular thunderstorms, and a large population.
Analyzing hospital and meteorological records,
researchers found that all of the thunderstorm asthma
cases occurred in the month of November,
which coincided with when pollen levels were high.
Also, the thunderstorms typically included
multiple storm cells, which may have helped
spread pollen shrapnel.
Victoria state, of which Melbourne is the capital,
last year rolled out one of the world’s first
thunderstorm asthma warning systems.
It combines thunderstorm predictions
from weather agencies with pollen counts
from 8 counting stations across the state.
This gives people time to plan for coming storms.
Currently, the team is able to forecast 3 days
before a thunderstorm asthma event occurs.
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Thunderstorm-triggered asthma attacks put under the microscope in Australia

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