An Epidemiological Study of Burn Cases from a Single Referral Hospital in Indore, Central Part of India and a Proposal for Burn Prevention and Care Program

A Clinico-Epidemiological Study among Burn Injury Patients in a Tertiary Care Hospital of Eastern India

“…An epidemiological study in Indore by Moses S et al had also found the burn patients as mostly illiterates and of poor socioeconomic condition. [13] A total of 41% victims in the present study were homemakers followed by students and labours, similar to the study in Kolkata. [14] The present study observed the mechanism of burn as mostly accidental in 87% of cases.…”

“…Moses et al in Indore (85%) and Kuiri et al in West Bengal (87%) had similar observation. [6,13] However Chatterjee S et al during post mortem examination of burn victims found the cause as accidental in 53% cases and Chakraborty S et al as 61% in admitted burn patients in a tertiary care hospital of Kolkata. [5][6][7] A systematic review on unintentional burns in south East Asia also accounted 80% burns due to flame and scald, which were mostly at homes among women and children.…”

“…[17] Mortality in burn patients varied in different settings from 46% (Indore), 23.5% (Kolkata), 4.5 to 23% as in Nepal, and as low as 5.7% in Kuwait. [5,9,13,16] This variation might be due to variation in type of burn i.e accidental or suicidal, mechanism of injury, age group affected, TBSA and quality of treatment.…”

Paraffin dangers, health and socioeconomic consequences: Urgent need for policy action

“…[21] Paraffin stove explosions are described as the most common cause of burns seen in Kenyan, Nigerian, Egyptian, SA and Indian hospitals. [21][22][23][24][25] The risks of explosion and injury are compounded by use of damaged stoves, [19] refilling lit stoves, [22] the unwitting use of contaminated fuel, [23] and inadequate stove safety knowledge. [18] Other risky stove use behaviours include using appliances without fuel caps, ostensibly to guard against explosions, using the stoves for prolonged periods as heaters, leaving lit stoves unattended, and moving a stove while in use.…”

“…[33] These adverse health effects can be permanently mediated through better policies that support substitution of the dirty fuel with cleaner and safer alternatives. [25,31] The growing case for alternatives: Electricity and LPG Although electricity is a preferred energy carrier and a reported 90% of SA households are connected to the grid, it cannot be relied on for all energy tasks owing to unscheduled power outages and unaffordability, especially to low-income households. These limitations cause even on-grid houses to maintain or revert to the use of paraffin and other dirty fuels as a back-up for thermalintensive tasks.…”