Dry drowning doesn’t exist, it’s fake news

When you’re a young parent, you get a little angry about everything. One day, your precious little boy drinks the cup, in his bath or in the pool, and there’s the drama : will make a dry drowning, as mamoune_du_06 proclaims with certainty on an obscure web forum dedicated to parenting ?

But dry drowning, what is it? According to legend, it would simply be the death of the heir, several days after drinking the cupall without water in the lungs, without suffocation, and without warning signs. Basically, the child drinks the cup, spits out a nice shot and gets betterNevertheless, several days later, poof, there’s no one left. Creepy, isn’t it? Fortunately, this is completely untrue and dry drowning does not exist.

Dry drowning is fake news

So-called “dry”, “delayed” or even “secondary” drownings are an urban legend believed to have been born in 2017, after a child died suddenly 72 hours after drinking the cup. No warning signs, no suffocation, but the baby is dead.

As we know, rumors spread faster than Darmanin’s sexist remarks on the Internet. When in fact the child’s autopsy revealed that his death was due to myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle. Nothing to do with drowning, but it was too late: the car had been launched and the legend was born.

The emergency pediatrician To be or not to be Toubibwho regularly shares his medical record for parents on social networks (with caustic humor), came back to us on this myth, stating that dry drowning was indeed a fake news :

Avoid and identify the risks of drowning in children

If dry drowning does not exist, let us not forget that true drowning is always possible. Some tips to always keep in mind:

• Don’t walk away from a child who is in water (yes, even in his bathtub, and even if there is only 10 cm of water, it can go very quickly)
• Never leave a child unattended at the edge of a swimming pool or body of water, even if they can swim

If your child has drunk the cup and you are worried, do not hesitate to call the Samu if:

• The child coughs and cannot stop
• He has difficulty breathing
• His lips turn blue
• Vomits
• The baby is dozing and seems listless

A child who has been drinking a lot of water should be monitored for the next few hours. But you die by dry drowning 72 hours after you do a breaststroke, No, it’s not possible.