Three people are now confirmed to have died in Melbourne‘s ‘thunderstorm asthma’ epidemic that began during intense storms on Monday.
The third victim is believed to be 35-year-old Apollo Papadopoulos, who reportedly died from a from an asthma attack while receiving treatment from paramedics. A friend posting on his Facebook indicated that paramedics tried unsuccessfully to revive him for 50 minutes.
His death follows those of 20-year-old Hope Carniveli and 18-year-old Omar Moujalled. Almost 200 people were taken to hospital and 2,000 emergency calls were made during the period, with demand for ambulances in Melbourne increase as much as six times, with some hospitals running out of supplies such as Ventolin and oxygen
‘Thunderstorm asthma’ is believed to be brought on when large storms trigger a change in the size of pollen particles. Those smaller, allergenic particles can penetrate deep into the small airways of the lung.
You can read an explainer on the phenomenon here.
Source: The Age.
Photo: Twitter / @MatthewWu.
