Emergency department presentations with a principal diagnosis relating to abnormalities of breathing (R06.0–R06.8), henceforth referred to as breathing difficulties, were analysed due to the association between bushfire smoke pollution and respiratory symptoms (see Australian bushfires 2019–20: exploring the short-term health impacts).
Nationally, there were increases in presentations for breathing difficulties throughout most of the 2019–20 bushfire season, with the largest increases occurring between the week beginning 5 January 2020 and the week beginning 19 January 2020. The largest increase in presentation rate was 21% in the week beginning 19 January 2020—6.8 per 100,000 persons (about 1,700 presentations), compared with 5.6 per 100,000 in the previous bushfire season (about 1,400 presentations).
To explore national data and data for states and territories, see interactive data visualisations below (for data tables see Supplementary table S3).