India has recorded 56 deaths from 24,849 suspected
cases of heat stroke between March and May, according to data by the
Union health ministry.
According to the data compiled by the
National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), 46 of these deaths were
recorded in May alone (till May 30).
Between May 1 and 30, 19,189
suspected heat stroke cases were reported in the country, it said.
The
data does not include deaths from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Delhi and
the final numbers are expected to be higher, a source said.
Heatwave
conditions have gripped large swathes of the country. India on Friday
alone reported at least 40 suspected heat-related deaths, 25 of them of
staff deployed on Lok Sabha poll duty in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
According to officials, heat-related deaths were reported from Odisha
(10), Bihar (8), Jharkhand (4) and Uttar Pradesh (1) on Thursday also.
Rajasthan has reported at least five heat-related deaths so far.
According to health ministry data, Madhya Pradesh saw 14 confirmed
deaths due to heat-related illnesses over the last three months followed
by Maharashtra with 11.
"Reports on heat stroke deaths are being
awaited from states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Delhi. Some states
have reported issues in data entry. The data visible may not be final
submission from states. So the numbers are expected to be higher than
this," an official source said.
According to National Centre for
Disease Control (NCDC), the cause of death should be certified as heat
stroke or hyperthermia where the measured antemortem body temperature at
the time of collapse was more than or equal to 40.6 degrees Celsius.
'Autopsy Findings in Heat Related Deaths', a set of guidelines released
by the NCDC in March, defined heat-related death as a death in which
exposure to high ambient temperature either caused the loss of life or
significantly contributed to it.
Deaths may also be certified as heat
stroke or hyperthermia with lower body temperatures when cooling has
been attempted prior to arrival at the hospital or when there is a
clinical history of mental status changes and elevated liver and muscle
enzymes, the document stated.
It also said that in cases where the
antemortem body temperature cannot be established but the environmental
temperature at the time of collapse was high, an appropriate
heat-related diagnosis should be listed as the cause of death or as a
significant contributing condition. -- PTI