Citation

Hon KL, Leung KKY, Chan CHY, Hui WF, Cheung WL, Chung FS, Ip P. Hong Kong Med. J. 2023; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, Hong Kong Academy of Medicine and the Hong Kong Medical Association)

DOI

10.12809/hkmj219680

PMID

37589084

Abstract

Injuries and deaths caused by fire occur in every region of the world but are most concentrated in middle- and lower-income areas; fire is also one of the top 15 leading causes of child death.1 Accidents and burns (12.5%) were major killers in children aged 1 to 6 years.2 In a worldwide epidemiological study of burns from the 1980s to 2004, a decrease in the rates of both fatal and non-fatal burns was observed for many countries.3 However, paediatric deaths from burns in the developing world occur at >10 times the rate seen in the developed world. For instance, a study in 12 rural child care centres situated in the urban slums of Patna in India in 1987 found that most burn injuries in children occurred in the home were accidental and were most common amongst the poorest patients.3 The presence of a developmental disability is another risk factor for burns in children in the developing world.4 In Hong Kong, fire-related deaths were seldom reported until recently; as such, there is no registry or any peer-reviewed publications from which researchers can obtain data regarding incidence.

Physical injury is a major health problem among children in Hong Kong, having surpassed infectious diseases as the leading cause of childhood mortality.5 6 7 8 In 2018, thermal injuries accounted for <15% of accidents and injuries for which children were admitted to a paediatric intensive care unit, the majority being hot water scalds.7 There had been no mortality due to a fire or burn injury involving a child over the past decades in the city. However, there have been several fatal incidents since 2020 (Table9 10 11 12), and these appear to have some features in common...

Language: en

Keywords

Epidemiology; Burns; Cause of death