Epidemiology of paediatric burns in Iran

We surveyed the epidemiology of the patients in a tertiary burn care centre (the Motahari Burn Hospital) in Tehran in the 4-yr period 2005-2009. Scalding was the major cause of burn injury for patients under the age of 6, while there were many more flame and electrical burns in late childhood. Males were mainly affected (male to female ratio, 1.7:1). Most burns occurred in the summer, probably due to older children's increased outdoor activities during school vacations. Most of the injuries took place in the kitchen. Age was directly related to the higher total body surface area and mortality rate. Explosion of propane gas at home had a high incidence. Length of hospital stay increased in relation to the burn surface area. Infants were found to be at greatest risk for burn injuries, while older children were at higher risk for severe burns. Before arriving at the hospital, 22 patients had received traditional therapy in the home which was not effective and caused some problems. Pre-hospital care by emergency medicine service personnel was complete and effective. 374 patients had positive results for wound culture (42.9%). The most frequent bacteria found in burn wound cultures was coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (66.8%). Blood culture was positive in 12% of the patients with positive burn wound culture and the most frequent bacteria in blood culture was Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The overall mortality rate was 10.6%. Treatment and prevention programmes should target high risk groups. Important criteria include older age, flame burn, presence of inhalation injury, total body surface area burned above 40%, and sepsis.