Cold weather related ailments on the rise this winter: data
2018/02/05 18:26
- Article View Option
SEOUL, Feb. 5 (Yonhap) -- The number of patients suffering from ailments caused by cold weather jumped sharply this winter, data showed Monday.
According to findings from the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 487 patients were treated for cold weather-related ailments between Dec. 1 and Jan. 3, up 42.8 percent from 341 reported during the same period a year earlier.
Ten people lost their lives, up from three reported a year earlier, the agency said.
By type of ailment, 347 people suffered from hyperthermia, 116 were affected by frostbites, with others being diagnosed with various types of illness caused by cold temperatures, the data showed.
Most parts of South Korea have been in the midst of a severe cold wave, with the weather agency frquently issuing cold weather alerts across the country. In December, the temperature in Seoul fell to an unusually low minus 19 degrees Celsius with wind chills making it even colder.
(END)
