Inexplicable phenomenon After a storm, many people with shortness of breath came to the clinic

Four people die in Australia due to "Thunderstorm Asthma"
In Melbourne, Australia, a thunderstorm has led to a state of emergency. As the Australian daily newspaper "The Sydney Morning Herald" reported on Thursday, thousands of people had to be treated for shortness of breath in the hospitals of the metropolis after a strong thunderstorm on Monday evening. Four patients died as a result of asthma attacks, three more people would continue to fight for their lives. The weather phenomenon is not unknown and can also occur in this country.

8500 sufferers need medical attention
A weather phenomenon has created chaos in the clinics of the Australian metropolis Melbourne this week. After heavy thunderstorms on Monday night, thousands of people had to be treated for respiratory problems, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. Overall, the first confirmed figures from the Ministry of Health on Thursday were for 8,500 people treated on Monday and Tuesday in the clinics of the state capital of Victoria.

Heavy storms can have serious health consequences for allergy sufferers and asthmatics. (Image: firewings / fotolia.com)

Victoria's Health Minister Jill Hennessy told the newspaper that the overburdened emergency services were not quite sure what they were dealing with on Monday as demand for assistance rose. "When people called for ambulances - one call every 4½ seconds at peak time - it was like having 150 bombs going down just above a certain part of the metropolitan area of ​​Melbourne," says Hennessy. "And that's something we've never really planned for," added the Minister.

Thunderstorm asthma is caused by combining several factors
The patients suffered from shortness of breath and sometimes massive asthma attacks, which were caused by the so-called "Thunderstorm Asthma" (thunderstorm asthma). This phenomenon also causes seizures and coughing in people who were previously not asthmatics.

The exact reasons for the violent physical reactions to a thunderstorm have not yet been clarified by the United Kingdom's National Meteorological Service (Met Office). However, it appears that such an event during the summer is triggered by a combination of major storms due to converging air masses, previous hot and dry weather, high humidity and possibly high levels of air pollution.

Pollen bursts due to moisture
If there is a high level of humidity, the pollen are swirled into higher air layers and then pushed by cold gusts near the ground. Due to the thunderstorm, the pollen grains also burst so that they are smaller than the ordinary pollen. As a result, they are inhaled deeper into the respiratory tract and thus trigger the increased shortness of breath. The incredible "pollen load" led the newspaper to the huge wave of people with respiratory distress and cardiac arrest.

Those affected should stay in the house during bad weather
The weather phenomenon is also possible in this country. Already several years ago, the German Society for Pulmonology and Respiratory Medicine warned people with asthma and pollen allergy from a threatening shortness of breath during thunderstorms. A thunderstorm rain could therefore result in an acute deterioration of their state of health for those affected.

Endangered people should therefore stay in the house after a storm better twenty minutes to half an hour before they go back to the fresh air. If people with allergies are surprised by a thunderstorm, it is important to protect their airways by inhaling the air through a cloth over their nose and exhaling them without a towel over the mouth. Subsequently, a shelter should be sought and there protected from the rain after the storm for half an hour to be waited. (No)