Asthma deaths up 32% amid fading COVID-19 effect
Asthma-related deaths increased from 355 to 467 in a year, said National Asthma Council Australia.
Increased respiratory virus circulation and complacency around asthma management are driving a spike in asthma-related mortality, a leading GP says.
National Asthma Council Australia reported last week that asthma-related deaths had jumped from 355 in 2021 to 467 in 2022 — a rise of around 32%.
Adelaide GP Dr Kerry Hancock said it represented a return to pre-COVID-19 levels, with asthma-related deaths hovering around 400 a year for most of the past two decades.
“People have gone back to more normal living arrangements, socialising and not always staying home when they have got viruses,” the chair of the RACGP Specific Interests Respiratory Medicine group told AusDoc.
