On June 10 and 11, a hospital in the Paris region saw a jump in the number of patients in the emergency room due to asthma, even though the weather was particularly stormy.
In Argenteuil, in Val d’Oise, emergency room consultations due to asthma increased tenfold on June 10 and 11, when the weather was particularly stormy. From France Bleu, the head of the emergency department in Argenteuil Catherine Le Gall testifies: “It considerably increased the activity of the emergencies, we had around ten patients who were constantly changing. I’ve been working in the emergency room for 22 years, I don’t I’ve never seen this phenomenon! It would actually be an episode ofthunderstorm asthma.
Particles vaporized like an aerosol
Usually, in spring, rain is expected by those allergic to pollen, because it limits its dispersion. But when there are storms, the phenomenon is different: the pollens are fragmented, divided into smaller particles by the storm activity and they thus move more easily in the atmosphere, in particular because of the winds.
Near BFMTVMaxime Gauthier, head of the emergency department at the Simone Veil hospital in Eaubonne (Val d’Oise) explains: “These pollens are sucked up by the clouds in the atmosphere, they are mixed with the water and electrified by the lightning, then are broken into tiny particles and sprayed like an aerosol“.
Many of the people who went to the emergency room did not suffer from asthma, but were prone to allergic rhinitis: “Storms trigger swelling and fragmentation of pollen, which penetrate more easily and further into the respiratory tract“, leading to difficulty breathing, adds Catherine Le Gall to France Bleu.
In the event of a storm, some doctors advise people prone to pollen allergies to avoid exposure to outside air, and before symptoms appear, to protect themselves with a surgical mask.
Sources: France Bleu, BFMTV