The extreme heat caused 333 deaths in Catalonia

Temperatures tend to increase year after year. A CREAL group of researchers, led by Dr. Xavi Basagaña, has quantified how many people died in Catalonia due to heat waves (three consecutive days with temperatures above 30 degrees) or occasional peaks of temperature increases. Deaths related to these phenomena are 333.

The study, published this month in the journal Epidemiology, analyzes more than 503,000 deaths between 1983 and 2006. "Our intention has always known why happens in order to reduce the number of deaths due to increases in temperature. This is prevention and public health” says a CREAL researcher.

We must highlight that 40% of these deaths, despite being produced by the effects of heat, does not occur during heat waves, but in the following days.

The elderly and children: the most vulnerable

The most vulnerable are the elderly (over 75) and children. The first because they often suffer diseases that are aggravated in heat periods. In fact, according to the analysis of this epidemiological research group, heat waves increase in deaths by 19% and, more specifically, 21% for respiratory problems, 22% for cardiovascular, 30% for stroke and others.

On the other hand, it must be necessary to extreme vigilance in children under 1 year and especially during the first week of life, as they have shown that increased these types of deaths by 25%. For this reason, Dr. Basagaña points out that "during the first week of life must be extremely careful and avoid exposing infants to sun and hot areas and not ventilated."