Weather warning: Ballarat conditions ripe for thunderstorm asthma

National Asthma Council Australia director and respiratory physician Peter Wark urged everyone to be on alert, even if they had not experienced asthma symptoms before.

Thunderstorm asthma season starts on Friday and runs to the end of the year. This is when risks are highest for thunderstorm weather to cause pollen grains to burst into tiny pieces, blown about by the wind, that can go deep inside the lungs and trigger an asthma attack.

Bureau of Meterology predicts higher than average wet conditions in eastern Australia to the end of the year.

This comes after a wet winter in Ballarat and plenty of spring growth in the region that has already sparked a tough start to hayfever season.

Professor Wark said people with asthma should re-visit their written asthma plan and remember to take preventer and inhaler medication as prescribed by their doctor, particularly if they live in, or are travelling to, a region with high seasonal grass pollen levels.

He said people who experience hayfecer should consider daily nasal sprays to prevent allergies because hayfever could lead to an increased asthma flare-up risk.

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For best protection, Professor Wark said people should avoid exposure to springtime thunderstorms and the wind gusts than come before rain. This includes shutting all windows and recirculating air-flow, in houses and in cars.

Grampians Public Health Unit medical director Rosemary Aldrich has said people who get hayfever would know they get hayfever but if their symptoms were not quickly alleviated, this needed closer attention in COVID testing.

"Although there's an overlap between COVID symptoms and hayfever symptoms, we'd be very, very keen to have a look at people for whom their normal hayfever treatment is not giving relief within an hour of taking it," Associate Professor Aldrich said.

Check the pollen forecast daily at sensitivechoice.com or the pollen count app, melbournepollen.com.au.

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