The number of cold-related illnesses has decreased by about 30%… “Beware of the elderly” due to cold wave :: Sympathetic media Newsis ::

Result of operation of cold disease emergency room surveillance system for 24-25 seasons

47 fewer people than last winter… Estimated death toll is similar

“Numbers rise and fall depending on the weather and government preventive activities.”

Damage concentrated on the elderly… Patients over 65 years old, 57% of the total

(Seoul = Newsis) Reporter Jeong Yu-seon = The number of people receiving emergency room treatment for cold-related illnesses such as hypothermia this winter has decreased by nearly 30% compared to last winter.

According to the results of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency’s operation of the cold disease emergency room surveillance system for the 2024-2025 season on the 4th, a total of 120 cases of cold disease occurred during the month from the 1st of last month to the 2nd of this month. Cold diseases are diseases that are directly caused by cold and can cause damage to the human body, including hypothermia, frostbite, and chilblains.

Of the 120 people, 105 (87.5%) were diagnosed with hypothermia, 13 (10.8%) with frostbite, and 2 (1.7%) with other diseases.

The most common time for cold illness to occur was early morning, 6 AM to 9 AM (20.8%), followed by 9 AM to 12 PM (15.8%), 12 PM to 3 PM, and 6 PM to 9 PM (12.5% ​​each). It was in order. The most common places of occurrence were roadsides (26.7%), houses (19.2%), and areas around residential areas (15.8%).

The number of cold-related illnesses this season is 47 (28%) less than the 167 people who occurred during the same period in the 2023-2024 season. The number of deaths is similar: 4 this season and 3 last season.

According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, the scale of cold-related disease outbreaks is influenced by weather such as temperature and safety accident prevention activities of the government and local governments.

However, it is difficult to pinpoint why the number of patients increased or decreased due to weather. In general, there is a tendency for a lot of people with cold-related illnesses to appear on cold days, but as the cold continues, the number decreases again, and the patterns vary.

An official from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said, “If it’s very cold, there are cases where people don’t go outside, and if it’s vaguely cold, there are cases where activity increases, so it’s difficult to say for sure.”

According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, the average temperature in December last year was 1.8 degrees, which was higher than the average temperature for 30 years (1.1 degrees), but compared to 2023 (2.4 degrees), it was actually lower. Considering the December average, this winter is colder than the last, although the difference is not that big.

Damage from cold weather is concentrated in the elderly. Of the cold-related illnesses that occurred as of the 2nd, 57.5% were people over 65 years old, and in particular, people over 80 years old accounted for 31.7% of the total, with the older the age group, the more people had cold-related diseases.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said, “Elderly people are vulnerable to cold-related diseases due to decreased autonomic nervous system function and blood vessel defense mechanisms,” and added, “If you engage in excessive physical activity early in the morning during the winter, your blood pressure may rise or your cardiovascular disease may worsen.” did it

It is said that many of the deaths of elderly people occurred because they had pre-existing metabolic diseases or after coming out of the house wearing light clothing.

Temperatures will rise above normal this weekend, but extreme cold is expected from the middle of next week, with morning temperatures dropping to around -10 degrees Celsius, especially in the central inland region, so special caution is needed.

◎ Sympathetic media Newsis (email protected)