ArticleBMJ (Clinical research ed.)2017
Stormy weather: a retrospective analysis of demand for emergency medical services during epidemic thunderstorm asthma.
Article in BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 74 citations in OpenAlex.
- Epidemic Thunderstorm Asthma in China: A Systematic Review of an Artemisia-Associated Phenotype.Clinical reviews in allergy & immunology · 2026Pooled it
- Thunderstorm Asthma Epidemic-A Systematic Review of the General Practice Perspective.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Pooled it
- Effects of Meteorological Factors on Hospitalizations in Adult Patients with Asthma: A Systematic Review.Canadian respiratory journal · 2019Pooled it
- Allergic Respiratory Diseases in the Climate Change Context: Aerobiological Tools and Projections as Preventive Actions for Pollen-Induced Allergies.Medical sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- The information challenge in public health crises: a study on the reliability and readability of information provided by large language model for thunderstorm asthma.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Article
- Climate change and epigenetic biomarkers in allergic and airway diseases.The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology · 2023Review
- Assessing the Effect of Precipitation on Asthma Emergency Department Visits in New York State From 2005 to 2014: A Case-Crossover Study.GeoHealth · 2023Article
- Climate change and respiratory disease: clinical guidance for healthcare professionals.Breathe (Sheffield, England) · 2023Review
- A Review of the Respiratory Health Burden Attributable to Short-Term Exposure to Pollen.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Review
- Timothy Grass Pollen Induces Spatial Reorganisation of F-Actin and Loss of Junctional Integrity in Respiratory Cells.Inflammation · 2022Article
- Prediction of airborne pollen concentrations by artificial neural network and their relationship with meteorological parameters and air pollutants.Journal of environmental health science & engineering · 2022Article
- Combined Exposure to Birch Pollen and Thunderstorms Affects Respiratory Health in Stockholm, Sweden-A Time Series Analysis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Temporal Changes in Pollen Concentration Predict Short-Term Clinical Outcomes in Acute Coronary Syndromes.Journal of the American Heart Association · 2022Article
- Exposure Assessment for Tropical Cyclone Epidemiology.Current environmental health reports · 2022Review
- Ghost in the machine or monkey with a typewriter-generating titles for Christmas research articles inBMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2021Observational
- Intramuscular corticosteroid injections in seasonal allergic rhinitis: A systematic review.Laryngoscope investigative otolaryngology · 2021Review
- Retrospective analysis of epidemic thunderstorm asthma in children in Yulin, northwest China.Pediatric research · 2021Article
- Thunderstorm allergy and asthma: state of the art.Multidisciplinary respiratory medicine · 2021Article
- Natural history of asthma symptoms after epidemic thunderstorm asthma: a 3-year longitudinal study.Asia Pacific allergy · 2020Article
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesTo describe the demand for emergency medical assistance during the largest outbreak of thunderstorm asthma reported globally, which occurred on 21 November 2016.
designA time series analysis was conducted of emergency medical service caseload between 1 January 2015 and 31 December 2016. Demand during the thunderstorm asthma event was compared to historical trends for the overall population and across specific subgroups.
settingVictoria, Australia.
main outcome measuresNumber of overall cases attended by emergency medical services, and within patient subgroups.
resultsOn 21 November 2016, the emergency medical service received calls for 2954 cases, which was 1014 more cases than the average over the historical period. Between 6 pm and midnight, calls for 1326 cases were received, which was 2.5 times higher than expected. A total of 332 patients were assessed by paramedics as having acute respiratory distress on 21 November, compared with a daily average of 52 during the historical period. After adjustment for temporal trends, thunderstorm asthma was associated with a 42% (95% confidence interval 40% to 44%) increase in overall caseload for the emergency medical service and a 432% increase in emergency medical attendances for acute respiratory distress symptoms. Emergency transports to hospital increased by 17% (16% to 19%) and time critical referrals from general practitioners increased by 47% (21% to 80%). Large increases in demand were seen among patients with a history of asthma and bronchodilator use. The incidence of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest increased by 82% (67% to 99%) and pre-hospital deaths by 41% (29% to 55%).
conclusionsAn unprecedented outbreak of thunderstorm asthma was associated with substantial increase in demand for emergency medical services and pre-hospital cardiac arrest. The health impact of future events may be minimised through use of preventive measures by patients and predictive early warning systems.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.