On June 18, 2013, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said that almost 1,500 people in Japan have been transported to the hospitals by ambulances due to heatstroke last week. The number has gone up from 942 people hospitalized in the week before.
The increase for one week to Sunday came due to a heat wave in the western region of Japan. The temperature went up to 37.9 degrees on Thursday, June 13, 2013 in Toyonaka, Osaka Prefecture and this temperature was the highest seen anywhere in Japan in 2013. The Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry and the Meteorological Agency are constantly warning people to be careful of the heatstroke, as the temperatures can go higher even before the summer officially starts.
In Osaka, about 194 people have been sent to the hospitals by ambulance for heatstroke during last week. This number is the highest for any prefecture so far, followed by 120 each in Hyogo and Aichi. Nationwide, a total of 1,488 people have been hospitalized, four were dead and 31 have severe symptoms which will require minimum of three weeks of treatment.
On the other hand, 64.7 percent of the people hospitalized have been diagnosed with mild symptoms. About 47.1 percent of people who have been affected by heatstroke are above the age of 65.
