Drowning was the leading cause of injury death for children age 1-4 years. Drowning death rates were 2.6 times higher among Black children age 5–9 years and 3.6 times higher among Black children age 10–14 years, when compared with White children of the same age.
Of these patients, 144 patients had an autopsy. The leading causes of death over 20 years were sepsis (47%), respiratory failure (29%), anoxic brain injury (16%), and shock (8%).
• Respiratory failure and sepsis are the leading causes of death in severely burned pediatric patients. • Deficiencies or delays in resuscitation increase risk of death after burn despite the size of burn injury.
In 2019 alone, 7.4 million children, adolescents and youth (0-14 years) died mostly of preventable or treatable causes. The burden of child mortality also remains unevenly distributed.