To the Editor: Burns remain a common occurrence among children, with scalds accounting for 55% of these injuries in Australia and New Zealand.1 Although a less frequent mechanism, contact burns now account for up to 30% of all burns among children.1,2 The Burns Unit (BU) at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead serves the paediatric population of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. Recently, our BU has identified a rise in the number of contact burns from motorcycle exhausts among children.
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- 1. Bi-National Burns Registry Project Team. Bi-National Burns Registry Annual Report. 1 July 2009 – 30 June 2010. Melbourne: Monash University, Australia. http://www.med.monash. edu.au/assets/docs/sphpm/bi-nbr-annual-report.pdf (accessed Sep 2012).
- 2. Abeyasundara SL, Rajan V, Lam L, et al. The changing pattern of pediatric burns. J Burn Care Res 2011; 32: 178-184.
- 3. Rajan V, Abeyasundara SL, Harvey JG, Holland AJ. Exhaust burns in children. Burns 2011; 37: 273-276.
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