The impact of the 21 November 2016 epidemic thunderstorm asthma event on general practice clinics in metropolitan Melbourne, Australia

Background and objective On 21 November 2016, parts of Victoria experienced a devastating epidemic thunderstorm asthma (ETSA) event. The aim of this study was to describe the epidemiology and burden of the 2016 ETSA event at Medicinelnsight-registered general practices in the Melbourne metropolitan area in Victoria, Australia. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted using patient record data from 21-23 November 2016. Codes were developed to identify all patients presenting to Medicinelnsight-registered general practices with asthma during the 2016 ETSA event. Results During the event, there were 787 more asthma-related encounters to Medicinelnsight general practices than expected, which represented a 7.1-fold increase (605% increase). Estimates suggest that there were between approximately 8940 and 13,689 more asthma-related encounters than expected across metropolitan Melbourne. Discussion General practices were significantly affected by the 2016 ETSA event. This work highlights the important part that general practices play in responding to ETSA events and the need for these practices to be prepared to respond.