From the flow of mail coming through the Internet is thunderstorm asthma. What is it? From Wikipedia:
Thunderstorm asthma is the triggering of an asthma attack by environmental conditions directly caused by a local thunderstorm. It has been proposed that during a thunderstorm, pollen grains can absorb moisture and then burst into much smaller fragments with these fragments being easily dispersed by wind. However, there is no experimental evidence for the proof of this theory.[1] While larger pollen grains are usually filtered by hairs in the nose, the smaller pollen fragments are able to pass through and enter the lungs, triggering the asthma attack.[2][3][4][5] A pollen grain is a single cell.
And what caused this mail? The fate of some unfortunates in Melbourne, Australia:
A fifth person has died and six people remain in intensive care — four of them critical — following Melbourne’s thunderstorm asthma outbreak on Monday.
Victoria’s Department of Health and Human Services confirmed the latest victim had died in the past 24 hours, but did not release details on their age or sex.
The department said hospitals were continuing to treat 20 people for a number of related conditions aside from those in intensive care.
More than 8,500 people have received hospital treatment since Monday’s outbreak.
That is quite a few people to add to the normal load of folks seeking hospital care.
