WHAT IS THUNDERSTORM ASTHMA?
* An epidemic of asthma symptoms during or immediately following a thunderstorm
WHAT CAUSED MONDAY'S EVENT?
* Pollen blew into Melbourne during the blustery day from the state's northern pastures
* Pollen grains absorbed moisture during the evening thunderstorms and then burst into hundreds of tiny allergenic fragments
* Those tiny fragments are small enough to penetrate deep into the airways causing asthma
WHO DIED?
* Hope Carnevali, 20
* father-of-two Clarence Leo
* Omar Moujalled, 18
* Apollo Papadopoulos, 35
* A woman who died at Northern Hospital on Friday night
* A person who died at an Eastern Health hospital on Saturday night.
