FIREWORK INJURIES: AN EPIDEMIOLOGICAL SURVEY IN NAPLES

Key words: Injuries, Adolescents, Fireworks

An active surveillance system was developed in the Province of Naples to describe the epidemiology of firework injuries. Information on demographic data site and type of lesion was collected from police and Emergency room registries for all the people admitted for a firework-related injury in any of the 18 Emergency rooms of Metropolitan Naples. During the 1995 New Year period a total of 420 valid cases were collected, a 127% increment compared with the same period of the year before. The rate of firework-related injuries in Metropolitan Naples was 12/100,000. The age-specific rate was higher among children 10-14 years old. The male:female ratio was 11:1. The most common sites of injury were right, left or both hands followed by face and eyes. The most common types of lesions were burns and lacerations but in 119 cases fingers or hands were lost, and serious avulsions or major eye injuries occurred. The Authors believe that considerable potential for prevention exists and made the following recommendations: to enforce control measures and to prohibit the sale of illegal fireworks; to disseminate informations among children and parents on firework- related dangers.