Closing the Care Gap

One of the greatest challenges to recovery is staving off infection. Burn injury suppresses the immune system, leaving patients vulnerable to sepsis and organ failure.¹⁷

Globally, 26.93% of burn incidents involve infections; Africa has the highest proportion of burn infections, with 53.50% of cases affected.⁵

Advances in burn care have reduced morbidity and mortality in developed countries, with standard-of-care regimes introducing new wound-healing modalities in clinical settings.⁵ But there is a lack of robust understanding of effective prevention strategies in LMICs.¹

Knowing that comprehensive burn care includes many facets of medicine from wound care, nutrition, and surgery, to rehabilitation and psychological support,⁶ there is limited understanding of the global availability of these services and how access affects burn injury outcomes. 

The road to recovery is long, and can include numerous reconstructive surgeries, hospital stays and outpatient follow up. All of this combined with the tangible resources it takes to provide such healthcare, can amount to an enormous cost and create socioeconomic strain for burn patients and families.¹⁸

Prevention and risk

The vast majority of burn injuries are thought to be due to preventable accidents. Emphasis should be placed on making sure everyone is equipped with the knowledge to stay safe and have access to preventative tools.¹⁸

Factors that may contribute to a less positive outcome for a burn patient include encountering barriers to ICU, financial constraints and initial burn management from care providers practicing traditional medicine.¹¹

There are studies to suggest that a lower socioeconomic status is a direct contributor to an increased burn burden. This could be in-part due to less formal infrastructure and fewer preventative tools such as smoke detectors.¹⁸

Social stigma

With burn injury recovery requiring immense amounts of physical therapy, physical rehabilitation specialists are invaluable. In some circumstances these professionals can assist with community reintegration and quality of life in addition to helping patients regain the ability to perform activities of daily living.³

Mental health may also be impacted by the traumatic experience of sustaining a severe burn injury.¹⁶

References