The Biggest Weather-Related Killer

 

Today’s Heat Forecast – Credit NOAA 

 

# 6411

 

 

While less dramatic than a hurricane, tornado, or blizzard – heat waves kill more Americans during an average year than all three of those put together. And once again today (and through this weekend) heat indexes will be dangerously high across much of the eastern half of the country.

 

Counting the number of fatalities due to excessive heat is difficult, since many of those who succumb are elderly, and have other medical conditions.

 

As Rupa Basu and Jonathan M. Samet wrote in the Journal Epidemiological Reviews (see Relation between Elevated Ambient Temperature and Mortality: A Review of the Epidemiologic Evidence):

 

An average of 400 deaths annually are counted as directly related to heat in the United States, with the highest death rates occurring in persons aged 65 years or more (3). The actual magnitude of heat-related mortality may be notably greater than what has been reported, since we do not have widely accepted criteria for determining heat-related death (4, 5–7), and heat may not be listed on the death certificate as causing or contributing to death.

 

This disparity between counted and estimated heat-related deaths can be illustrated by the reports from the infamous heat wave of 1980, which `officially’ claimed `more than 1250 lives’ (cite NOAA  Heat Wave: A Major Summer Killer) but which unofficially may have killed as many as 10,000  (Tracking and Evaluating U.S. Billion Dollar Weather Disasters, 1980-2005 (Lott and Ross, 2006).

 

Eight years later, a heat wave across the central and eastern part of the nation killed as many as 7,500 people (cite). More recently, in 1999, a prolonged heat wave along the Eastern seaboard is believed to have killed 500 (cite).

 

And in Europe and across Russia a prolonged heat wave in 2010 may have contributed to tens of thousands of deaths (see Recent Heat Waves Likely Warmest Since 1500 in Europe).

 

Forecasters base their decision to issue heat warnings based on the heat index, a combination of heat and relative humidity, using the chart below:

 

 

Excessive heat alert warnings are usually issued when the forecast anticipates a heat index that exceeds 105°-110°F for at least 2 consecutive days. As you can see, when it is extremely humid, actually temperatures don’t have to get much above 90 to become dangerous.

 

In anticipation of this weekend’s heat wave, the CDC has posted some helpful information on beating the heat on their Have You Heard?  website.

 

Learn more about heat-related illness and how to stay cool and well in hot weather

June 29, 2012

Getting too hot can make you sick. You can become ill from the heat if your body can't compensate for it and properly cool you off. Heat exposure can even kill you: it caused 8,015 deaths in the United States from 1979 to 2003. These are the main things affecting your body's ability to cool itself during extremely hot weather: high humidity and personal factors.

<Snip>

More Information

• Beat the Heat (When Working Outdoors) [PODCAST - 5:30 minutes]
• Extreme Heat
• Frequently Asked Questions about Extreme Heat
• Heat Stress in the Elderly
• Extreme Heat Media Toolkit

 

For more information, the Excessive Heat Events Guidebook was developed in 2006 by the EPA, the NWS, the CDC, and the DHS to provide the best practices for saving lives during heat waves in urban areas.

 

 

Some handy advice for this weekend, or anytime the heat index is excessively high:

 

 

Quick Tips for Responding to Excessive Heat Events

For the Public

Do

• Use air conditioners or spend time in air-conditioned locations such as malls and libraries
• Use portable electric fans to exhaust hot air from rooms or draw in cooler air
• Take a cool bath or shower
• Minimize direct exposure to the sun
• Stay hydrated – regularly drink water or other nonalcoholic fluids
• Eat light, cool, easy-to-digest foods such as fruit or salads
• Wear loose fitting, light-colored clothes
• Check on older, sick, or frail people who may need help responding to the heat
• Know the symptoms of excessive heat exposure and the appropriate responses.

Don’t

• Direct the flow of portable electric fans toward yourself when room temperature is hotter than 90°f
• Leave children and pets alone in cars for any amount of time
• Drink alcohol to try to stay cool
• Eat heavy, hot, or hard-to-digest foods
• Wear heavy, dark clothing.

»» Read More

Hong Kong To Lower Bird Flu Response Level

 

Photo Credit – FAO

# 6064

 

On December 21st, Hong Kong Health authorities raised their bird flu response level from `Alert’ to `Serious’ after a dead chicken found at the Cheung Sha Wan Temporary Wholesale Poultry Market tested positive for the H5N1 virus. 

 

The following week, in the neighboring city of Shenzhen, a bus driver died from the H5N1 virus, heightening concerns (see Hong Kong: Suspected Human H5N1 Infection In Neighboring Shenzhen).

 

 

As no additional cases (human or in poultry) have been detected in Hong Kong over the past 21 days, Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, has announced the lowering of the alert response is set for tomorrow, January 12th.

 

This also means that the ban on the sale of live poultry, in effect for the past three weeks, will be lifted. This press release from Hong Kong’s government website (http://www.info.gov.hk):

 

 

Sale of live chickens in Hong Kong to resume tomorrow

Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Issued at HKT 18:26

The Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, announced today (January 11) that wholesale and retail of live poultry in Hong Kong will resume tomorrow (January 12). Imports of live poultry including day-old chicks from the Mainland can also resume on January 12, except for live poultry from a designated import control zone in Shenzhen.

 

After the detection of the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza (AI) virus in a chicken carcass sample taken from the Cheung Sha Wan Temporary Wholesale Poultry Market (Wholesale Poultry Market) during regular surveillance by the Agriculture, Fisheries, and Conservation Department (AFCD) on December 20 last year, the Government declared the Wholesale Poultry Market an infected place and suspended the dispatch of live chickens from local farms to the market as well as import of live poultry for 21 days.

 

Dr Chow convened the third meeting of the Steering Committee on AI this morning to sum up the follow-up actions on AI over the past three weeks. Participants at the meeting included AFCD, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) and the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health.

 

"Since the detection of AI in the Wholesale Poultry Market, AFCD completed three rounds of inspections on all 30 chicken farms in Hong Kong in the last three weeks. Local farmers were found to have strictly complied with bio-security and environmental hygiene requirements. No abnormality was found with the chickens. AFCD has also tested about 4,500 samples collected from local farms and all were found negative for H5 AI virus," Dr Chow said.

 

(Continue . . . )

 

»» Read More

Nationwide Test Of Emergency Alert System (EAS) On Nov 9th

 

FEMA Director Craig Fugate - Photo Credit FEMA

# 5929

 

 

On November 9th of this year, at 2:00pm Eastern Time, FEMA, along with partners NOAA and the FCC, will conduct the first ever nation-wide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS).

 

The EAS can be activated in the event of a national emergency by the President of The United States, and on a more localized level by the NWS to issue severe storm warnings, and by state governors and local emergency managers for more geographically limited emergencies.

 

Although those of us who grew up during the cold war are well familiar with early CONELRAD and later EBS alerts, we have become a `wired’ nation, and no longer depend primarily on over-the-air radio and TV broadcasts.

 

With newer technologies such as satellite TV,  cable TV, satellite Radio, etc. the task of alerting the nation during a crisis has grown considerably more complex. Telling people to turn to 640 or 1240 on their AM dial in the event of an emergency doesn’t cut it anymore.

 

Hence a need to test the system on a nationwide basis.

 

FEMA, which will spearhead this nationwide test, wants everyone to know – in advance – that the test messages to be issued on November 9th are just a test.

 

To that end, they have released a short video that will help to explain exactly what you may hear or see during this upcoming test.

 

 

For more on all of this, I would invite you to visit the FEMA BLOG.

 

FEMA Blog

October 28, 2011

Help Us Spread the Word – On November 9, “This is Just a Test”

Published by: Public Affairs

Over the past few months, we have written on this blog about the upcoming nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System, which is now less than two weeks away. The test will take place on Wednesday, November 9th at 2:00 pm eastern standard time, and will be the first time this system, which is often tested and used by officials at the local level, will be tested across the entire country.

(Continue. . . )

For those of you on twitter, I would also suggest you follow @FEMA, @CraigatFEMA, and @ReadydotGov for the latest Emergency information.

»» Read More

Alberta, Canada Issues Measles Alert

 

 

# 5779

 

 

Alberta Health Services issued a public alert yesterday after a passenger who flew from Vancouver International Airport (YVR) to Edmonton International Airport (EIA) back on August 15th was determined to have been infected with measles.

 

Media reports indicate that the patient was an  Edmontonian – believed to be unvaccinated - who had recently returned from a trip to Asia.

 

The plane carried roughly 100 passengers, and others may have been exposed at the airport terminals.  Alberta Health Services is asking anyone who may have been in on those flights to contact them immediately.

 

 

 

Confirmed measles case prompts public alert

August 23, 2011

EDMONTON – Alberta Health Services has confirmed a case of measles in the Edmonton area and is following up with individuals who may have been in close contact with the ill person. The case of measles occurred in an Albertan who recently travelled outside Canada.

 

The following groups may have been exposed to the ill person and are asked to contact Health Link Alberta as soon as possible:

• Any passengers on Air Canada flight AC244 on Monday, August 15, 2011, which departed Vancouver International Airport (YVR) at 4:30 p.m. and arrived at Edmonton International Airport (EIA) at 6:53 p.m.
• Anyone in the Edmonton International Airport Air Canada baggage claim area on Monday, August 15, 2011, from 7 p.m. until 9:30 p.m.

Measles is an extremely contagious respiratory disease caused by a virus. Measles causes fever, runny nose, cough and a rash all over the body. The rash typically begins behind the ears and on the face, spreading down to the body, and finally to the arms and legs.

 

About one out of 10 children with measles also gets an ear infection, and up to one out of 20 gets pneumonia requiring hospitalization. For every 1,000 children who get measles, one or two will die. Individuals who have not already had measles disease and have not been immunized against measles are at highest risk for developing the disease.

(Continue . . . )

 

Earlier this year I wrote about the recent rise of measles cases across much of Europe (see Measles: Forgotten, But Not Gone), with details gleaned from the WHO’s WER (Weekly Epidemiological Record), and including a referral to an excellent 5-part series on measles by Ian York.

 

The WER report (Measles outbreaks in Europe) detailed an outbreak, which – as of April 18th – had infected more than 6,500 people in 33 nations.

 

This spring a significant number of measles cases have been imported into the United States from this outbreak, and with the summer travel season upon us, the potential for seeing more cases is great.

 

For this reason, the CDC released a HAN Advisory on measles last June.

This is an official

CDC HEALTH ADVISORY

Distributed via Health Alert Network
June 22, 2011, 16 :00 EST (04:00 PM EST)
CDCHAN-00323-11-06-22-ADV-N

High Number of Reported Measles Cases in the U.S. in 2011—Linked to Outbreaks Abroad

 

During the 1950s – before the introduction of the measles vaccine – measles infected roughly 4 million Americans, hospitalized nearly 50,000, and contributed to the deaths of several hundred every year.

 

The chart below (source: CDC) shows the remarkable effectiveness of the vaccination campaign.

 

While many parents today think of measles as a relatively benign childhood illness, it actually produced significant morbidity and mortality with respiratory, ocular, and neurological complications - sometimes resulting in death.

 

In developing countries, the incidence – and mortality rate – of measles remains high.   These statistics from the World Health Organization:

Measles

Fact sheet N°286

Key facts

• Measles is one of the leading causes of death among young children even though a safe and cost-effective vaccine is available.
• In 2008, there were 164 000 measles deaths globally – nearly 450 deaths every day or 18 deaths every hour.
• More than 95% of measles deaths occur in low-income countries with weak health infrastructures.
• Measles vaccination resulted in a 78% drop in measles deaths between 2000 and 2008 worldwide.
• In 2008, about 83% of the world's children received one dose of measles vaccine by their first birthday through routine health services – up from 72% in 2000.

»» Read More