According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency on the 16th, a man in his 80s living in Seoul's Dongdaemun District died of a heat-related illness. On the same day, a total of seven patients visited emergency rooms for heat-related illnesses.
The nationwide average high temperature that day was 28.2 C, and the high in Seoul, where the death occurred, was 31.3 C, hotter than the seasonal average.
A death from a heat-related illness occurring in mid-May is the first since the emergency room surveillance system for heat-related illnesses began. It was more than a month earlier than last year.
The number of heat-related patients identified through the surveillance system last year was 4,460, the second highest since the record-breaking heat wave in 2018. Of these, the presumed number of deaths from heat-related illness was 29, and 68.6% were 65 or older. The main cause of death was heatstroke (93.1%).
Heat-related illness is an acute condition caused by heat and typically accompanies symptoms such as headache, dizziness, muscle cramps and fatigue.
In particular, heatstroke is an emergency condition in which body temperature rises to 40 C or higher and is accompanied by central nervous system abnormalities, requiring immediate treatment.
The disease agency emphasized, "As the timing and intensity of heat waves increase due to recent climate change, the importance of preventing health damage from heat waves is growing." It urged people to follow heat illness prevention guidelines even when no heat wave advisory is in effect, noting that older adults, pregnant women, children and people with underlying diseases may be more vulnerable to heat-related illness because they regulate body temperature less efficiently than healthy adults.
Im Seung-gwan, commissioner of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, said, "On days with high temperatures, avoid strenuous outdoor activities, and in particular, frequently check the health status of groups vulnerable to heat exposure, such as older adults, people with disabilities and those with chronic diseases."
The disease agency collaborates every summer with more than 500 medical institutions nationwide, local public health centers and metropolitan and provincial governments to identify the status of patients who come to emergency rooms with heat-related illnesses, and provides daily occurrence information on its website.