Because of the link between air pollution from bushfire smoke, and respiratory conditions (see Australian bushfires 2019–20: exploring the short-term health impacts), presentations with a principal diagnosis categorised as a respiratory condition (ICD-10-AM codes J00–J99) were analysed.
It should be noted that respiratory conditions, particularly in the earlier part of the bushfire season, may be largely caused or exacerbated by factors other than bushfire smoke (for example, pollen, dust storms, or respiratory infections).
To explore changes in presentations, data from each week in the 2019–20 bushfire season were compared with the same week of the previous year (2018–19). Increases in presentation rates to emergency departments for respiratory conditions were generally higher from mid-November 2019 until the end of February 2020.
Nationally, the largest increase in the presentation rate was 22% in the week beginning 26 January 2020—44 per 100,000 persons (about 11,200 presentations), compared with 36 per 100,000 in the previous bushfire season (about 9,000 presentations). Part of this increase in presentations may have been influenced by the first confirmed case of COVID-19 on 25 January 2020 and associated warnings to self-monitor for respiratory symptoms (Department of Health 2020).
To explore national data and data for states and territories, see interactive data visualisations below (for data tables see Supplementary table S3).