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11/13 - Annegamenti in Italia epidemiologia e strategie di prevenzione.A cura di Enzo Funari e Marco Giustini2011, iii, 52 p.
Drowning in Italy: epidemiology and strategy prevention.
Edited by Enzo Funari and Marco Giustini
2011, iii, 52 p. (in Italian)
Drowning is a low incidence but high lethality phenomenon. In almost half of 800 events per year, the person involved dies (387 cases in 2007) and in the remaining 55% of the cases people are hospitalized. These are the near-drowning cases. The average hospital rate is 7.4 cases per million inhabitants with a peak for those under 14 years, while the corresponding mortality rate is 6.5 cases per million population per year, with a maximum value in the over 70. The mortality rate has dropped from around 1200-1300 deaths per year in the early 70s to just under 400 deaths during 2006-2007, with a overall decrease of 70%, and an age-specific decrease for children of 90%. Drowning often occurs in areas far from the sea. Data show that in 44% of cases drowning occurred in areas with no access to the sea is mostly located in Northern Italy. The analysis of information available from the media made it possible to characterize drowning according to specific cause, which in most cases is inexperience (25%) and illness (22%). A rapid rescue is important to increase the chances of survival. In the U.S., where the phenomenon has a higher incidence and for this reason rescues are more widespread and efficient, out of 8 events, only one was fatal, while in Italy, 4 out of 8 events result in a death. For this reason the role of rescuers is fundamental.
Key words: Drowning; Trauma; Prevention; Epidemiology
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