A systematic review of the role of grass pollen and fungi in thunderstorm asthma

Abstract

Background: Thunderstorm asthma is defined as epidemics of asthma occurring shortly after a thunderstorm. While grass pollen has been implicated in thunderstorm asthma events, little is known about the role of fungi and studies have not been synthesised. Objective: This systematic review aims to evaluate whether grass pollen is necessary in thunderstorm asthma events and whether fungi also play a part in these associations. Methods: We conducted a systematic search using six electronic databases (i.e. CINAHL, Medline (Ovid), Web of Science, ProQuest Central, EMBASE and Google Scholar) and checked reference lists. The search terms used were pollen AND thunderstorm* AND asthma. The inclusion c..