Heatwave 2015: Be careful of the abnormally high death rate

From Tuesday 30th June, France will enter into an exceptional heatwave for this time of year.[1]. These remarkably high temperatures (around 40 °C) can have particularly harmful consequences on the health: tiredness, dehydration, heat stroke, respiratory, heart, metabolic problems, etc. If, for the most part, these inconveniences are minor, they are lethal in certain cases, particularly for the at-risk populations such as young children or the elderly.

France has already experienced an exceptional heatwave in 2003, responsible for a high death rate. The Inserm researchers at the Epidemiology Centre on the medical causes of death (CépiDc) have produced an estimate of the high death rate linked to this heatwave on a national and regional level.

The numbers from the study are available in the official report “Surmortalité liée à la canicule 2003 (High death rate linked to the 2003 heatwave“

The official report prepared by the Inserm researchers in collaboration with the InVS from 2006 “Estimation de la surmortalité observée et attendue au cours de la vague de chaleur du mois de juillet 2006 (Estimation of the high death rate seen and predicted during the heatwave of July 2006)” is also available.

[1] France weather (Météo France) website « Vague de chaleur: vers des températures exceptionnelles pour un début juillet (Heatwave: exceptional temperatures for the start of July)»

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