Thunderstorm asthma

If you have asthma, or wheeze and sneeze during pollen season, a sudden thunderstorm asthma event could make it hard to breathe.

The best way to protect yourself is to make sure you are on asthma treatment with a preventer.

What is thunderstorm asthma?

Thunderstorm asthma happens when a storm hits during high pollen days. Tiny pollen pieces in the air can get deep into your lungs and cause asthma attacks. 

In 2016, a thunderstorm asthma event caused thousands of people across Melbourne to become very sick with sudden asthma, and 10 people died. More than two thirds of people who ended up in intensive care were not on an inhaled preventer for their asthma. 

Are you on an asthma preventer? See your GP now. 

Asthma experts now recommend that people with asthma avoid only using a reliever by itself. Taking a preventer as well as a reliever is strongly recommended and can keep you safe over the pollen season (October – December). 

To stay safe:

• see your doctor to check if your symptoms could be asthma, and get a asthma action plan
• use your preventer every day and keep your reliever with you
• follow your asthma action plan, and if you or someone with asthma can’t breathe well, use asthma first aid
• check the VicEmergency app for thunderstorm asthma alerts, and stay out of storms on a high-risk day. 

Call triple zero (000) immediately if a person has stopped breathing, their asthma suddenly becomes worse or is not getting better, or a person is having an asthma attack and there is no reliever medication available. 

Watch this short video where Western Public Health Unit Director, Dr Finn Romanes explains how to stay safe when thunderstorm asthma happens