Time series of hospital admissions for burns in pediatric patients in the Southern Region of Brazil in the period from 2016 to 2020
Série temporal das internações hospitalares por queimaduras em pacientes pediátricos na Região Sul do Brasil no período de 2016 a 2020

Dear Editor,

I enthusiastically evaluated the article entitled “Time series of hospital admissions for burns in pediatric patients in the Southern Region of Brazil from 2016 to 2020”¹. In my opinion, it is an exceptional manuscript that will be increasingly appreciated by readers.

The article highlights and analyzes cases of hospitalizations due to burns in the age group of 0 to 14 years, which occurred between 2016 and 2020, in the states of Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul, and Paraná. This is a very important topic for debate, as the prevention of burns in children must be carried out by adults, whether they are parents or other guardians.

However, I would like to add information regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, which was established in 2020 in Brazil, and which was not listed in the article. Among the years analyzed, the study demonstrated that the second-highest number of hospital admissions occurred in 2020, and this fact may be related to the social isolation that occurred this year. According to a literary review on the topic, most burns occur at home². In this sense, due to the quarantine, many daycare centers and schools were closed, resulting in a greater presence of children in their homes. Furthermore, among the measures provided by the Ministry of Health, was encouraging the use of alcohol to clean hands and objects³.

However, as the authors themselves mentioned, liquid alcohol is the second main cause of burns in pediatrics. Given this, it is also important to highlight that the sale of 70% alcohol in Brazil has been prohibited since 2002. However, given the state of health emergency recently experienced, the National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA) authorized this product to return to the market⁴.

I hope this explanation was able to show the likely influence of the pandemic on the number of hospitalizations for burns in 2020.

REFERENCES

1. Souza TG, Souza KMD. Série temporal das internações hospitalares por queimaduras em pacientes pediátricos na Região Sul do Brasil no período de 2016 a 2020. Rev Bras Cir Plást. 2022;37(4):438-44.

2. Cruz BF, Cordovil PBL, Batista KNM. Perfil epidemiológico de pacientes que sofreram queimaduras no Brasil: revisão de literatura. Rev Bras Queimaduras. 2012;11(4):246-50.

3. Oliveira WKD, Duarte E, França GVAD, Garcia LP. Como o Brasil pode deter a COVID-19. Epidemiol Serv Saúde. 2020;29(2):e2020044.

4. Silva SA, Ribeiro DRND, Guimarães GMS, Melo Neto DX, Braga PS, Cruvinel SS, et al. Impacto da quarentena pela COVID-19 no perfil epidemiológico de queimados em Minas Gerais, Brasil. Rev Bras Queimaduras. 2020;19(1):2-10.

1. Universidade do Sul de Santa Catarina, Tubarão, SC, Brazil

Corresponding author: Cintia de Souza Borges Av. José Acácio Moreira, 787, Dehon, Tubarão, SC, Brazil. Zip Code: 88704-900, E-mail: cintiabs014@gmail.com

Article received: January 29, 2024.
Article accepted: February 8, 2024.

Conflicts of interest: none.

Institution: Universidade do Sul de Santa Catarina, Curso de Medicina, Tubarão, SC, Brazil.