The African dust storm fills hospitals: ‘toxic and dangerous mixture’

Particularly dangerous is cocktail and heat, which has been prevalent in our country in recent days, not only for vulnerable citizens but also for healthy people, Professor Pneumonology Nikos points out. The phenomenon of African dust is extremely common in recent years in Greece, due to the climate crisis. Professor of Pneumonology of the University of Crete, Nikos Tzanakis, describes in iatropedia.gr how much our health and what vulnerable groups should do to avoid paroxysmic respiratory episodes that may even lead to death. “The sick are usually affected, who suffer from chronic severe respiratory conditions, which lead to exacerbations. An exaggeration is not a merciless effect. Someone with C.I.D. dies on a exacerbation of chronic Pneumonopathy. We never know where such a situation will lead,” he points out. The African dust storm is a common phenomenon in southern Greece, especially Crete, which has been hit again in the last 24 hours. The evolution of the phenomenon is closely monitored by the network of PROJECTS of the Region of Crete, which has ruled that concentrations of dust particles with a diameter of 10 small or less (PM10), on Wednesday (27/03) but also today Thursday (28/03) seem to exceed the safety limits, namely 50 micrograms per cubic meter (50 μg/m3). More than 3.5 times the visits to the hospitals Study of the University of Crete published in the international scientific press in 2019, with the participation of Professor Tzanakis, demonstrated that extreme episodes of “storm” African dust can cause a significant increase in hospital admissions, but also in the visits of patients with chronic Pneumonopathy (CDP) with exacerbations and shortness of breath in the Emergency Departments (TEPs). The survey was conducted in a sample of 17 thousand visits to the TEPs of the Hospitals of Crete during four successive “storms” of African particle dust (PM10) that occurred in March 2018. “It involved patients with allergic symptoms, exacerbation of COPD and dyspnoea, addressed to Pathology, Pulmonology and Cardiological TEP. We found that when this storm of African dust exceeds 500 micrograms per cubic metre of PM10 particles, then visits to the Emergency Departments due to exacerbation of GPA increases by 3.6 times,” says the Professor. African powder: Increased mortality Other studies in Spain, but also the latest Italian study of 2016, which included monitoring patients for 10 years, proved that these storms of African dust can also lead to death. ‘ No one ensures that a GDP will lead to death, ’ explains the scientist and adds. “These people end up on a exacerbation, even if an exacerbation is infectious aetiology or other aetiology, one of which is air pollution, or the dust of the Sahara. The phenomenon takes a few days to develop as a health problem for citizens. From today’s hospital’s on-call and the next two to three on-calls will be more visible the problem in its area,” Nikos Tzanakis points out. A similar concern was expressed by the Association of Pneumonologists in Greece, which spoke of a “toxic and dangerous mixture. ” “The African powder contains transportable particles that can be incorporated with pollen, bacteria and fungi, creating a particularly toxic and dangerous mixture for the human organism and especially the respiratory system,” said the president of the Association of Pneumonologists Mata Chikrica. Healthy ones are also affected, vulnerable people are at risk High concentrations of dust from the Sahara, threatening elderly people and people with underlying diseases – mostly respiratory – and will last until tomorrow Friday (29.03. 24), while the phenomenon is not excluded. In addition to the high temperatures expected to occur in many regions of the country, especially in southern Greece and Crete, citizens should be very careful. Professor Nikos Tzanakis rings the alarm of danger, as he says, African dust worsens air quality and increases particle levels. It can even enter the lungs through the function of breathing, but also pass into the bloodstream. More vulnerable are the elderly and those suffering from severe chronic respiratory and cardiological diseases (asthma, respiratory and heart failure, COPD etc.). These individuals are not excluded from having asthma attacks, respiratory distress, even a heart attack. “Sport activities in open-air areas should be avoided by healthy, or regardless of health status, or heavy physical and manual work requiring increased breathing rate. And people suffering from severe respiratory or cardiological diseases should not have too much exposure and not go outdoors. If it is impossible to do this with a high protection mask CN95 that we used in coronavirus,” he points out. Healthy people are not directly at risk, but there is a chance that they will face side difficulties. “Healthy people are not at risk, but such a situation may facilitate the advent of a virus. And in heavier form. But also get a virus, because the respiratory system’s immune system is busy with this dust, resulting in a decrease in its performance. Therefore, indirectly they are not at risk but may have some impact,” concludes the Professor. The doctor points out that if a citizen develops an increased cough, discomfort or shortness of breath and a patient with a COP shows severe worsening of his symptoms, symptoms of exacerbation, contact his doctor immediately or visit a hospital. By Janna Soulaki / Source: iatropedia.gr