Heat-Related Illness Surveillance

Heat-related illness (HRI) ranging from mild (heat cramps) to severe (heat stroke, death) occurs when the body is unable to properly cool itself. The Virginia Department of Health monitors emergency department (ED) and urgent care visits for HRI to determine the effect of extreme heat on people seeking healthcare in Virginia. Information about the case definition used to identify HRI visits is included in this guidance document from the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists. Please consider syndromic surveillance data limitations when interpreting HRI visit data.

The dashboard below shows HRI visits (by residents and out of state visitors) to EDs and urgent cares in Virginia. By using the drop-down menus, HRI data can be viewed by year and geography. Use the VDH Geography Locator Tool to find the assigned Health Region for a city or county locality in Virginia. HRI visit counts are combined for some cities and counties due to zip codes spanning multiple localities.  A list of combined cities and counties can be found here.

This dashboard will be updated on weekdays (Monday – Friday) in July and August, and updated weekly on Mondays in May, June, and September.

Complete a quick survey to share your experience using heat-related illness data.

 

Data sets for the HRI dashboard are available for download through the Virginia Open Data Portal.


Heat-Related Illness Surveillance Reports

2021

The Enhanced Surveillance team identified and monitored one heat-related illness event so far between April 1 to September 30, 2021. The heat related illness event occurred June 28-30. The summary report can be found below.

June 28 – 30 2021 Summary


2020

The Enhanced Surveillance team identified and monitored one heat-related illness event between April 1 to September 30, 2020. The heat related illness event occurred July 17-30. The individual summary reports can be found below.

July 17-19 2020 Summary

July 17-21 2020 Summary

July 17-23 2020 Summary

July 17-27 2020 Summary

July 17-30 2020 Summary


2019

The Enhanced Surveillance team identified and monitored one heat-related illness event between April 1 to September 30, 2019. The heat related illness event occurred July 16-22. The individual summary reports can be found below.

July 16 2019 Summary

July 17 2019 Summary

July 18 2019 Summary

July 19-21 2019 Summary

July 16-22 2019 Summary


2018

The Enhanced Surveillance team identified and monitored one heat-related illness event between April 1 to September 30, 2018. The individual summary report can be found below.

June 18-19 2018 Summary


2017

Between April 1 to September 1, 2017, the Enhanced Surveillance team identified and monitored four heat-related illness events. The four heat-related illness events occurred on June 12-13, July 12-13, July 20-22,and August 16-18. Individual summary reports for these events can be found below.

June 12-13 2017 Summary

July 12-13 2017 Summary

July 20-22 2017 Summary

August 16-18 2017 Summary

For more information on preventing heat-related illness visit the Extreme Heat and Heat-Related Illnesses page.