The older people, the risk of cold disease ↑…When do patients have the most cases?
Mar 11, 2025
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According to the results of the operation of the "2024-2025 Cold Disease Emergency Room Monitoring System" announced by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the 11th, a total of 334 people with cold disease were reported from December last year to February this year (8 deaths), down 16.5% from the previous year (400 cold disease patients and 12 deaths).
According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, the number of cold wave days increased by 1.1 days (3.2 days → 4.3 days), and the average daily minimum temperature decreased by 2.5°C (-1.9 → -4.4°C).
The cold wave was severe, but the number of patients decreased.
The 2017-2018 season (December 2017-February 2018 with 631 people), which had the most cold-related cases, recorded the longest cold wave days (11.8 days) and the lowest minimum temperature (-5.5℃), and the occurrence of cold-related patients has been remarkably related to the cold wave days and the lowest temperature, but the trend of cold-related diseases over the past five years has not shown a clear correlation with weather changes.
According to the trend of symptoms in the cold disease monitoring results, the main symptom of cold disease patients was hypothermia (80.2% and 268), and in the case of estimated deaths (8), the cause of death was mainly hypothermia (87.5%, 7). Men (69.8% and 233) were about 2.3 times more common than women (30.2% and 101), and the most common age group was over 65 (54.8% and 183), and most of the estimated deaths were over 65 (87.5% and 7). In particular, 30.8% (103) of cases and 75.0% (6 deaths) of the elderly over 80 years of age are reported, indicating that the risk of cold disease is higher in the elderly.
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Comparing the relationship between the age of occurrence and the place of occurrence, the main symptom sites of the 65-year-old or older (183 people), which have the largest distribution of cold disease, are the roadside (27.9% and 51 people), the house (26.8% and 49 people), and the area around the residence (20.2% and 37 people), suggesting that it is important to prevent cold disease in the daily life of the elderly.
It is pointed out that caution is needed during morning activities because cold diseases occur mainly at 6-9 o'clock (20.1% and 67 people) and 9-12 o'clock (16.8% and 56 people), and the temperature lowered overnight can be affected by cold diseases.
By region, Gyeonggi Province (19.5%, 65 people) had the largest number of cold patients, and Gangwon Province (2.8) had the largest number of cold patients per 100,000 people. North Gyeongsang Province (1.5), North Chungcheong Province (1.4), and North Jeolla Province (1.3).
Ji Young-mi, Director of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said "As a result of this monitoring, the number of cold disease patients and deaths occurred in the elderly over 65 years of age. In order to prevent cold diseases in the daily lives of the elderly in winter every year, please refrain from outdoor activities during cold weather and pay more attention to health care by paying attention to keeping warm during normal times and when going out."
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
