The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net 

HEALTH officials have seen an increase in heat-related illnesses in recent weeks, with more younger people affected.

Dr Darbrielle Hunt-Burrows, chief of internal medicine at the Princess Margaret Hospital, called the increase concerning, saying officials are keeping a close eye on the matter.

Local meteorologists have issued heat advisories urging residents to stay hydrated and limit outdoor activities during peak afternoon hours because of the high temperatures.

Yesterday, Dr Burrows said doctors had encountered several patients suffering from dehydration and heat exhaustion.

Though none required hospitalisation, she said, some needed to be resuscitated.

“We’ve seen more younger persons who have presented and they are presented with minor complaints,” she told The Tribune yesterday. “So these cases we saw within the last two to three weeks and if there were about 30 persons who presented, at least about 10 of those persons were persons presenting with heat-related complaints.”

“So they were persons who were feeling unwell. They were having headaches. They presented with elevated temperatures. At the time, they had elevated heart rates. So some of these were some of the concerns that they had.”

 She said none of the patients suffering from heat illnesses experienced complications afterwards.

 “We usually test for complications like kidney injury, heart injuries, those types of things, because one of the other possible, more serious complications is whether people develop kidney injuries, liver injuries, those types of things and so these people would’ve been screened for these type of muscle injuries,” she said.

 “There’s a condition called rhabdomyolysis which people can develop as a serious complication of dehydration and none of these persons had any of those more serious complications. They were able to be discharged home.”

 Some of the hottest days in the Earth’s history were recorded this month, with experts warning that hotter temperatures could become a continuous problem because of climate change.

 Many communities around the world have reported an increase in heat-related illnesses.

 PMH officials have not seen the most severe heat-related illnesses, such as heat strokes.

 But, Dr Burrows warned yesterday, only “time will tell”.

 She urged residents to stay cool and not wait until they’re severely ill to seek medical care.

 She also advised people to exercise in well-ventilated areas “because the environment also places people at risk for heat-related injuries”.

 Furthermore, she warned people not to remain in their cars for extended periods.

 “We,” she said, “also must be conscious of those populations where persons are at risk because they themselves are not able to get access to cooling or hydration, and those are the populations of persons who are medically ill, persons who have strokes, persons who have mental illness and they might not physically or mentally be able to access water or cooling and those are persons too who may present with heat-related injuries and that population of persons, we should be concerned about them.”