CHILDHOOD BURN INJURIES AND DEATHS

Abstract

Accidents kill more people in the United States between 1 and 34 years of age than any single disease. Burns are the second leading cause of nonvehicular "accidental" death. Thirty percent of the 7,800 Americans who die from burns each year are under 15 years of age. In the 1- to 4- year-old age group, burns are the leading cause of accidental death in the home environment and second only to vehicular injuries overall; in the 5- to 14-year-old age group, burn deaths place third, behind motor vehicle and drowning fatalities.1 Each year approximately 2 million people in the United States seek medical attention for burn injuries.