Delayed drowning, a few hours to several days after getting out of the water, has become the new fear bathers. After the death of several children in the United States, it generates a real psychosis on social networks. But what is it really? It all started in June 2015 when a 10-year-old American boy died four hours after returning from the pool. The media that echoed this tragedy used the term "dry drowning", hitherto little used.
Two years later, a four-year-old boy dies of asphyxiation in his bed in the United States, a week after splashing near a levee in Texas. The news is spreading like wildfire and anxiety is rising a notch on the Internet. Many sites warn of the possibility of dying suddenly and without warning symptoms after ordinary swimming. Few, on the other hand, relayed the results of the autopsy, which concluded that death was not by drowning but by chronic myocarditis, a persistent inflammation of the heart muscle, unrelated to swimming.
The fact remains that one must be vigilant when a child drinks from the cup because one can escape drowning, but develop later complications.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines drowning as "respiratory failure resulting from submersion or immersion in a liquid medium". Drowning in the open air is therefore medically questionable.
The term dry drowning actually comes from forensic medicine, when a body recovered from the sea or a river has no – or very little – water in the lungs. How is this phenomenon possible? When the airways come into contact with liquid, the throat often contracts reflexively to obstruct the passage to the lungs.
This spasm of the muscles surrounding the larynx can lead to rapid death by asphyxiation. "This reflex is present from early childhood, explains Dr. Loïc Etienne, emergency doctor. This is why children can suffocate from lack of oxygen in less than 20 cm of water. They should therefore not be left alone even in a barely filled inflatable pool".
Video of the day:Underestimating the potential consequences of inhaling sea or swimming pool water is a serious mistake. When you drink from a cup, coughing theoretically expels all the water that has infiltrated the bronchi. But this is not always the case and breathing difficulties may appear later. The water may have irritated the lungs, or dissolved the surfactant that lines the surface of the pulmonary alveoli, which hinders proper oxygenation of the body.
A lung infection following the infiltration is also possible if the water contained germs. The danger of drowning is therefore not completely eliminated once the victim is out of the water.
But a sudden "dry drowning", without warning signs, does not exist. Warning signs always appear:difficulty breathing, an unusual noise during the passage of air, drowsiness, blue fingernails or a gray complexion which signal an oxygen deficit. “Complications secondary to drowning can occur several hours later, up to 48 to 72 hours later,” says Dr. Etienne.
Even brief drowning should never be minimized. When getting out of the water, it is best that the victim be examined by a rescuer or a doctor to make sure that everything is fine.
Close monitoring is also necessary one to two days after the incident in order to watch for the possible appearance of delayed signs of drowning:a severe cough, respiratory failure, a rise in fever, pain in the chest, apathy or vomiting.
If in doubt, go to the emergency room. Detected in time, these disorders are easily treated by putting on oxygen and prescribing antibiotics in case of infection.
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