Little-known hazard as girl, 4, left orphaned after parents die in scalding hotel bathtub

A four-year-old girl has been left orphaned after her parents died in a hot bathtub, and health experts have been warning about a hidden hazard.

Jeferson Luiz Sagaz, 37, and his partner Ana Carolina Silva, 41, were discovered dead in their hotel bath the day after they'd been out partying in a nightclub.

They'd been celebrating their daughter's fourth birthday before leaving her with Sagaz's sister and going on a night out, checking into the Dallas Motel located in São José, Brazil, on 11 August.

Police were alerted when they never picked up their daughter from Sagaz's sister the next morning, as they had planned to, and officials found them dead in a bathtub filled with 50°C water.

Toxicology found traces of cocaine in their blood, with the cause of death named as 'exogenous poisoning, favouring the process of heatstroke with intense dehydration, thermal collapse, culminating in organ failure and death'.

The couple's lifeless bodies were found in the motel bathtub (NewsX)

According to a couple of experts, a hot bathtub can pose a serious health hazard, which many people are unaware of.

Speaking to The Sun, British Heart Foundation cardiac nurse Ruth Goss warned that having a hot bath can make your blood vessels dilate, which can lead to your blood pressure dropping and your heart having extra strain put on it.

She said that for most people, a hot soak would be a relaxing experience to be enjoyed, but the temperature change could put a bit of a strain on the heart, and for those with a heart condition, that would open the door to a serious problem.

"Sudden changes in temperature can put extra strain on your heart, and in some cases, may lead to dizziness or fainting," she told the paper.

"We always advise people with cardiovascular concerns to speak to their GP or cardiac nurse before using hot tubs or taking very hot baths, especially if they’ve experienced angina, arrhythmias, or poor blood pressure."

Dr Deborah Lee of the Dr Fox Online Pharmacy added to The Sun that this extra strain on people with a heart condition could raise the risk of a heart attack.

Health experts have warned that a hot bath can put extra pressure on your heart which can lead to you passing out or even worse consequences (Getty Stock Photo)

She said that babies and young children, along with the elderly, were most at risk from this hazard of a hot bathtub.

Her advice is for people who may be vulnerable to this to avoid getting into a bath that's too hot, to stay hydrated while in it, and to avoid lingering in the hot water for a long time.

The doctor even warned that immersing yourself in particularly hot water ran the risk of heatstroke if your body temperature climbed even just a few degrees.

In extreme cases, temperatures can climb to such a point that they can scald someone to death, as happened to a 75-year-old man who got trapped in his hotel bath and couldn't switch the hot water off.