Tropical cyclones pose an important risk of death for children under five in low- and middle-income countries, reports a new study led by Renjie Chen of Fudan University, China, published September 25 th in the open-access journal PLOS Medicine .
Tropical cyclones, which include typhoons and hurricanes, are among the most frequent and destructive natural disasters. These storms are becoming more common and more severe due to climate change, which has raised concerns about their effects on young children, who are especially susceptible to drowning, injuries from high winds and flying debris, lack of clean drinking water or the breakdown of health care services. Previous studies have often focused on single cyclone events or high-income regions, leaving a gap in our understanding of the effects in countries with limited resources.
To understand the impact of tropical cyclones on the health of children under five in low- and middle-income countries, the researchers used survey data to identify deaths after a storm event. They looked at the survival of the child’s siblings at the same age to see if a death at this age was unusual, and thus more likely linked to the cyclone. The analysis included 100,798 children under five who had died and 247,445 surviving siblings across 34 low- and middle-income countries. Researchers found a significant link between deaths of children under the age of five and exposure to a cyclone in the month before death.
The global analysis demonstrates the substantial risk posed by cyclones to young children. Overall, the researchers estimate that cyclones caused the death of 850,000 children under five from 2000 to 2020. These findings illuminate the need for disaster preparedness in vulnerable regions to reduce the number of child deaths linked to these events.
The authors add, “Across 34 low- and middle-income countries, tropical cyclones were linked to higher under-five mortality, with an estimated 850,000 child deaths from 2000 to 2020. The findings underscore the urgent need for disaster preparedness that ensures safe water, sanitation, and health services for vulnerable communities.”
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Citation: Guo Y, Zhu Y, He C, Gao Y, Zhou L, Bachwenkizi J, et al. (2025) Cyclone exposure and mortality risk of children under 5 years old: An observational study in 34 low- and middle-income countries. PLoS Med 22(9): e1004735. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1004735
Author countries : China, United States, Tanzania
Funding: see manuscript
PLOS Medicine
Observational study
People
Competing interests: The authors declare that there are no competing interests.