Division SST-BURN: Burn

Burn infections must meet at least one of the following criteria:

• Patient has a change in burn wound appearance or character, such as rapid eschar separation, or dark brown, black, or violaceous discoloration of the eschar, or oedema at wound margin

AND histologic examination of burn biopsy shows invasion of organisms into adjacent viable tissue

Patient has a change in burn wound appearance or character, such as rapid eschar separation, or dark brown, black, or violaceous discoloration of the eschar, or oedema at wound margin

AND at least one of the following:

• organisms cultured from blood in the absence of other identifiable infection

• isolation of herpes simplex virus, histologic identification of inclusions by light or electron microscopy, or visualisation of viral particles by electron microscopy in biopsies or lesion scrapings

Patient with a burn has at least two of the following signs or symptoms with no other recognised cause: fever (> 38 °C) or hypothermia (< 36 °C), hypotension, oliguria (< 20 cc/hr), hyperglycaemia at previously tolerated level of dietary carbohydrate, or mental confusion

AND at least one of the following:

• histologic examination of burn biopsy shows invasion of organisms into adjacent viable tissue

• organisms cultured from blood

• isolation of herpes simplex virus, histologic identification of inclusions by light or electron microscopy, or visualisation of viral particles by electron microscopy in biopsies or lesion scrapings