Objective To analyze epidemiological features of deaths from heat stroke in Shanghai from 2009 to 2010 and to explore potential risk factors.
Methods The case reports of heat stroke deaths from 2009 to 2010 were downloaded from China information system for diseases control and prevention-information system for public health emergency management. Daily meteorological data collected from one week before the onset of the first case to one week after the onset of the last case were included for statistical analysis.
Results The average age of the 28 cases was 63 years old. The gender ratio was 2.5:1. Among the deaths, 35.71% were workers and 28.57% were retirees; 22 cases had heat strokes in the period between sunrise and sunset. In addition, 57.14% of the cases had heat strokes at home, 28.57% at workplace. All the 28 cases occurred at temperatures above 35℃ lasting for at least two days. Except for 2 cases with unknown onset time, an average of 3-hour-time-window between heat stroke occurrence and hospital treatment was found in the other 26 cases.
Conclusion Heat stroke deaths occur mainly among the middle-aged males. Home and workplace are 2 key sites for heat stroke prevention and temperature is closely related to heat stroke. The course of heat stroke is short and advances quickly.
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