More than 200 people in Victoria have been hospitalised with asthma-related issues as thunderstorm asthma outbreaks occur across the state this week, which is more than five times the normal amount.
Melbourne Pollen Count Coordinator Associate Professor Ed Newbigin says thunderstorm asthma is a “sudden uptick” in the number of people presenting to emergency departments suffering from respiratory distress.
“It is caused, at this time of year, by the co-occurrence of high grass pollen levels and also particular types of thunderstorms which roll in across Victoria,” Ms Newbigin told Sky News Australia.
“They’re picking up grass pollen from pasturelands to the state’s west and north, and they’re bringing it into the cities and towns of Victoria.
“The important ingredients here are close proximity of large areas of grazing lands.
“In Victoria, if you look west from Melbourne you’ve got grazing lands all the way to the South Australian border and our predominant weather comes across those grazing lands.”
