Youngest kids most at risk of severe burn injury

By Anne Harding

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Half of children admitted to US hospitals with serious burns are 2 years old or younger, and most of these burns are due to contact with hot liquids or hot objects, an analysis of nationwide data demonstrates.

The findings underscore the importance of taking steps to protect young children from burns at home, for example setting water heaters so water temperatures don't rise above 120 degrees and using a gate to keep small children out of the kitchen while cooking, Dr. Gary A. Smith, director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, and one of the study's authors, told Reuters Health.

Young children "explore their environment, they reach at things, they touch things, they're always exploring and that's how these injuries are occurring," he said.

Smith and his colleagues looked at data representing the roughly 10,000 children under 18 who were hospitalized for severe burn-associated injuries in 2000. Half were 2 years old or younger.

These youngsters were more likely than older kids to suffer burns on the hand and wrist, and to be burned by hot liquids or vapors such as steam or hot substances or objects. Older children were most likely to be burned by fire or flames, and to be burned on the leg.

In the 41.5 percent of cases in which information was available on where the injury occurred, 91.4 percent took place at home.

So-called "active" burn injury prevention approaches, such as warning labels on products and public awareness campaigns, don't always work, Smith and his colleagues note, "because these strategies require human action and vigilance for protection to occur."

Passive strategies that don't demand action, such as non-flammable pajamas and childproofed lighters, are more likely to be effective, they say.

People should also make sure they have smoke alarms and are maintaining them properly, Smith said, and have a plan in place for escaping the house in case of fire.

He also advises parents with young children to avoid mobile baby walkers. Using the walkers "gives children mobility before they're able to handle it," Smith explained.

SOURCE: Journal of Burn Care and Rehabilitation, November/December 2007.