Thunderstorm asthma

Due to the acute nature of the onset and wide exposure of local populations to the same triggering conditions, severe epidemic thunderstorm asthma events can put significant and unmanageable stress on public health facilities.

[4][5][6][7] The phenomenon of thunderstorm asthma has been recognised since the 1980s, with an event in Birmingham, England, in July 1983 often considered the first prominent example.

Recognised as the most severe epidemic thunderstorm asthma event on record, the onset overwhelmed the city's ambulance system and some local hospitals, saw a ten-fold increase in asthma cases presenting to emergency departments compared with average, and resulted in ten deaths.

[10][11][12][13][14][15] One month later, an epidemic thunderstorm asthma event in Kuwait resulted in at least 5 deaths and many admissions to the ICU.

[22] A rye grass pollen grain can hold up to 700 tiny starch granules, measuring 0.6 to 2.5 μm, small enough to reach the lower airways in the lung.