An early heat wave led to 26 heat-related illness cases, including one death, from the 15th to the 16th.
According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency heat-related illness emergency department surveillance system on the 17th, 19 heat-related patients visited emergency rooms nationwide the day before.
The disease agency has been operating this year's heat-related illness emergency department surveillance system with about 500 emergency department–operating medical institutions nationwide since on the 15th.
On the 15th, seven heat-related patients were reported, including the death of a man in his 80s in Seoul. A heat-related death in mid-May is the first since the emergency department surveillance system for heat-related illness began. It was more than a month earlier than last year.
On the 16th, the second day of the surveillance system, 19 more were added, bringing the total to 26. No additional deaths were reported.
Of the 19 cases the day before, by region there were six in Gangwon, three in Seoul, two each in Gyeonggi, North Chungcheong, South Chungcheong, and North Gyeongsang, one in North Jeolla, and one in Jeju.
Last year, 4,460 heat-related illness cases were identified through the surveillance system, the second highest since 2018, which saw record heat. Of these, 29 were presumed heat-related deaths, and 68.6% were ages 65 and older. The main cause of death was heatstroke (93.1%).
Heat-related illness is an acute condition caused by heat, typically accompanied by symptoms such as headache, dizziness, muscle cramps, and fatigue. In particular, heatstroke is an emergency in which body temperature rises to 40 degrees Celsius or higher and central nervous system abnormalities occur, requiring immediate treatment.
The disease agency emphasized that, 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 even more.