Heat-related mortality--Arizona, 1993-2002, and United States, 1979-2002

Hyperthermia is the elevation of body temperature resulting from the body's inability to dissipate heat. Continued exposure to ambient heat close to body temperature (98.6 degrees F [37.0 degrees C]) contributes to a substantial number of deaths from hyperthermia, especially among elderly persons. To assess the health risk from hyperthermia, Arizona health practitioners and CDC researched cases of heat-related death and illness in Arizona, used U.S. death certificate data to summarize trends in heat-related deaths, and compared age-specific, heat-related death rates in Arizona with those in the United States overall. Findings indicated that, during 1979-2002, a total of 4,780 heat-related deaths in the United States were attributable to weather conditions and that, during 1993-2002, the incidence of such deaths was three to seven times greater in Arizona than in the United States overall. Public health agencies in communities affected by periods of extreme heat should educate populations at risk (e.g., persons aged > or = 65 years) and consider designing and implementing location-specific heat response plans (HRPs).