12/04 282 deaths linked to aftermath / Unsanitary conditions, cold temperatures blamed for postdisaster toll

The Yomiuri Shimbun

Among people who survived the March 11 massive quake and tsunami but died later in the month in the disaster-stricken Tohoku region, at least 282 were believed to have succumbed to postdisaster-linked factors, such as cold temperatures and unsanitary conditions at evacuation sites that aggravated their chronic illnesses, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.

The findings were made through inquiries to key hospitals designated to handle major natural disasters in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures.

As many of those hospitals located along the Iwate Prefecture coast that were seriously affected by the twin disasters have not responded to the Yomiuri's inquiry, meaning the number of such deaths indirectly linked to the quake and tsunami is certain to rise further.

Even though a month has passed since the disasters, the inferior sanitary conditions at evacuation centers have improved little. Experts warn such deaths indirectly linked to the disasters could occur at a much faster rate than those that occurred in the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake or the 2004 Niigata Prefecture Chuetsu Earthquake.

The inquiry was made to 113 hospitals--those designated as key medical institutions at the time of major natural disasters and major secondary emergency hospitals--in the three prefectures. Queries concerned the number of patients who died as their chronic illnesses deteriorated or deaths due to the onset of new illnesses in the aftermath of last month's quake and tsunami.

Of the 113 hospitals, 56 responded, with 24 hospitals confirming there were such indirect disaster-linked deaths.

Of the 282 such deaths, Miyagi Prefecture accounted for 214, Fukushima Prefecture for 63 and Iwate Prefecture for five. Most of the deaths were believed to be among the elderly.

The Ishinomaki Red Cross Hospital in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture--the city in which more than 5,000 people either died or are listed as missing--registered 127 such deaths; followed by 23 at Saka General Hospital in Shiogama, Miyagi Prefecture; 17 at Kashima Hospital in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture; and 10 at Fukushima Medical University Hospital in Fukushima.

Regarding cause of death, hospitals reported 43 due to such respiratory illnesses as pneumonia, followed by 40 due to such circulatory diseases as heart failure and 11 cases resulting from cerebral vessel diseases as stroke.

Between 30 and 50 patients were brought in for emergency treatment at the Ishinomaki Red Cross Hospital each day in March following the quake. Half came from evacuation sites, with most being elderly, unconscious and in a state of cardiac arrest at the time of their admission. The hospital believes these cases were among those deaths indirectly linked to the disasters.

Those who died from factors indirectly linked to the disaster are entitled to receive public condolence money if a local government recognizes a causal link between their death and the disaster. The task of recognizing causal links will be handled by a panel of examiners, to be set up by local governments. Important yardsticks for such recognition are the death certificate to be issued by a doctor, a police autopsy and other methods.

Following the Hanshin quake, the deaths of people living alone in temporary housing became an issue, while deaths occurred in the aftermath of the 2004 Niigata quake due to deep vein thrombosis--better known as economy-class syndrome--when people took shelters in cars for lengthy periods and suffered blocked blood vessels.

Over the 10-year period following the Hanshin quake, 919 cases were recognized as being indirectly linked to the disaster, accounting for 14 percent of those 6,402 people who died in Hyogo Prefecture alone.

While the number of deaths already has topped 13,000 in the latest quake and tsunami, officially the toll does not include those believed to be indirectly linked to the disasters.

Officials at the disaster-management headquarters in the three prefectures said they had yet to grasp the overall picture of such deaths that might be indirectly linked to the disasters.

(Apr. 12, 2011)