Thunderstorm-related asthma - the epidemic of 24/25 June 1994

Venables, K M; Allitt, Ursula; Collier, C. G.; Emberlin, Jean; GREIG, J. B.; Hardaker, Paul; HIGHHAM, J. H.; LATNG-MORTON, T.; Maynard, R L; Murray, Virginia; Strachan, David P.; Tee, R D

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2222.1997.tb01206.x

Cited by 28 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Moreover, their findings that as the rain began to fall, the amounts of larger particles (>10 µm) decreased but small particles remained suspended for sometime after the storm began, confirms our previous findings with the Melbourne epidemics [4, 5]. Similarly, the high frequency of specific IgE antibody to grass pollen in the immunology pilot study of the London epidemic together with the history of hay fever in many affected patients [8] suggest that the patients may have been responding to grass pollen, as we have previously reported in the Melbourne epidemics [5]. Furthermore, air pollution levels in the London area were not unusually high on the 24th June and did not exceed air quality 1–hour guidelines of the WHO, 1987 [8].…”

Section: Epidemics Of Asthma Are Associated With Thunderstormssupporting

confidence: 74%

“…Thunderstorm–associated asthma has also been reported recently in Britain [6, 7, 8]. All of these recent studies report an epidemic of asthma related to a thunderstorm that occurred in London during June 24/25, 1994.…”

Section: Epidemics Of Asthma Are Associated With Thunderstormsmentioning

confidence: 88%

“…This study also reported that young adults seem to be most affected, a group who are not usually the most frequent attenders at emergency departments. A more recent study has taken a wider geographical perspective of the 1994 London epidemic and summarized the work nationwide describing the meteorological features of the storm, the associated aerobiology and pollutant levels, the resulting epidemic and the response of the health services [8]. The only significant outcome from this exhaustive study was the presence of high levels of grass pollen as the dominant aeroallergen present in the period leading up to the storm.…”

Section: Epidemics Of Asthma Are Associated With Thunderstormsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Similarly, the high frequency of specific IgE antibody to grass pollen in the immunology pilot study of the London epidemic together with the history of hay fever in many affected patients [8] suggest that the patients may have been responding to grass pollen, as we have previously reported in the Melbourne epidemics [5]. Furthermore, air pollution levels in the London area were not unusually high on the 24th June and did not exceed air quality 1–hour guidelines of the WHO, 1987 [8]. …”

Section: Epidemics Of Asthma Are Associated With Thunderstormsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus, a critical question arises as to how these particles originate in the environment in order to trigger allergic asthma? This review addresses this question, in the light of our original discoveries in 1992 [4, 5] and recent evidence from other investigators [6, 7, 8]. The answer to this fundamental question has come from two sources: (i) careful observations of thunderstorm–associated epidemics of asthma in Melbourne [4, 5] and London [6, 7, 8], molecular cloning of grass pollen allergens [9, 10, 11, 12] and environmental monitoring [5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Thunderstorm Asthma Due to Grass Pollen

Suphioglu¹

1998

Int Arch Allergy Immunol

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It is widely known and accepted that grass pollen is a major outdoor cause of hay fever. Moreover, grass pollen is also responsible for triggering allergic asthma, gaining impetus as a result of the 1987/1989 Melbourne and 1994 London thunderstorm–associated asthma epidemics. However, grass pollen is too large to gain access into the lower airways to trigger the asthmatic response and micronic particles <5 μm are required to trigger the response. We have successfully shown that ryegrass pollen ruptures upon contact with water, releasing about 700 starch granules which not only contain the major allergen Lol p 5, but have been shown to trigger both in vitro and in vivo IgE–mediated responses. Furthermore, starch granules have been isolated from the Melbourne atmosphere with 50–fold increase following rainfall. Free grass pollen allergen molecules have been recently shown to interact with other particles including diesel exhaust carbon particles, providing a further transport mechanism for allergens to gain access into lower airways. In this review, implication and evidence for grass pollen as a trigger of thunderstorm–associated asthma is presented. Such information is critical and mandatory for patient education and training in their allergen avoidance programs. More importantly, patients with serum IgE to group 5 allergens are at high risk of allergic asthma, especially those not protected by medication. Therefore, a system to determine the total atmospheric allergen load and devising of an effective asthma risk forecast is urgently needed and is subject to current investigation.

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Section: Epidemics Of Asthma Are Associated With Thunderstormssupporting

confidence: 74%

Section: Epidemics Of Asthma Are Associated With Thunderstormsmentioning

confidence: 88%

Section: Epidemics Of Asthma Are Associated With Thunderstormsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Epidemics Of Asthma Are Associated With Thunderstormsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Thunderstorm Asthma Due to Grass Pollen

Suphioglu¹

1998

Int Arch Allergy Immunol

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Retrospective analysis of epidemic thunderstorm asthma in children in Yulin, northwest China

Xue

Li³

et al. 2020

Pediatr Res

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BACKGROUND: An epidemic of thunderstorm asthma in pediatric patients occurred in Yulin, a northwest city of China, on 11 September 2018. We described the epidemic and retrospectively analyzed the demographic and clinical aspects of the involved children. METHODS:The caseload data of patients were collected from the hospital information system in Yulin Pediatric Hospital. The detailed document of hospitalized children with thunderstorm asthma was sourced from the medical records. RESULTS: The mean number of daily visits to emergency/outpatient department and the daily admission to hospital were 2.7 and 16 times, respectively, than on the other days of September. A gender prominence of males was observed in both emergency/ outpatient and inpatient department. Among the 51 hospitalized children with detailed medical records, 56% of them had never experienced or were diagnosed with asthma and 25% had confirmed diagnosis of asthma. Sixty-seven percent had a history of allergic rhinitis during August and September. Seventy-six percent of the hospitalized children presented as moderate asthma. Ninety-four percent of the pediatric patients had positive IgE against mugwort pollen and 78% were monosensitized to pollen. CONCLUSION: Thunderstorm asthma can affect children, especially who has allergic rhinitis or asthma without preventive management. Mugwort is also an aeroallergen in thunderstorm asthma attacks.

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Concentrations of major grass group 5 allergens in pollen grains and atmospheric particles: implications for hay fever and allergic asthma sufferers sensitized to grass pollen allergens

Schäppi

Taylor

Pain

et al. 1999

Clin Experimental Allergy

143

119

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Here we present, for the first time, an estimation of the total group 5 allergen content in respirable and nonrespirable particles in the atmosphere of Melbourne. These results highlight the different environmental risk factors for hay fever and allergic asthma in patients, as on days of rainfall following high grass pollen count, the risk for asthma sufferers is far greater than on days of high pollen count with no associated rainfall. Moreover, rainfall may also contribute to the release of allergens from fungal spores and, along with the release of free allergen molecules from pollen grains, may be able to interact with other particles such as pollutants (i.e. diesel exhaust carbon particles) to trigger allergic asthma.

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Thunderstorm-related asthma - the epidemic of 24/25 June 1994

Abstract: This study supports the view that patients with specific IgE to grass pollen are at risk of thunderstorm-related asthma. The details of the causal pathway from storm to asthma attack are not clear. Case-control and time series studies are being carried out.

Cited by 28 publications

References 19 publications

Thunderstorm Asthma Due to Grass Pollen

Thunderstorm Asthma Due to Grass Pollen

Retrospective analysis of epidemic thunderstorm asthma in children in Yulin, northwest China

Concentrations of major grass group 5 allergens in pollen grains and atmospheric particles: implications for hay fever and allergic asthma sufferers sensitized to grass pollen allergens

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