ST. LOUIS (AP) — The St. Louis-area death toll from the heat continues to rise.

Health officials say 18 deaths in the St. Louis region are now blamed on the recent heat wave. Four more deaths were confirmed Wednesday in the city, two 43-year-old men, and two in their 70s.

Fourteen of the 18 deaths have occurred in St. Louis. Mayor Francis Slay on Wednesday announced an effort to increase public education efforts to prevent illness and death in extreme weather.

Two other deaths occurred in in St. Louis County and two in Madison County, Ill.

The number of Kansas City-area deaths being investigated as possibly heat-related has grown to seven.

In a news release Wednesday, the Kansas City Health Department announced that heat is suspected as a factor in two more Jackson County deaths — one of a man born in 1956, the other of a woman born in 1960. The Jackson County medical examiner is investigating the deaths.

The department would not comment further.

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services says a 13th heat-related death was reported in the central part of the state.