Arya News - Using drugs that regulate the immune system in the first hours after injury can improve survival rates and speed up treatment for children with burns, researchers at the Tyumen Medical University have found.
The university reported that the study revealed the mechanism behind immune system deterioration in young children following burn injuries.Burns are one of the leading causes of hospitalization among children under four to five, according to scientists at Tyumen Medical University. In about 75% of cases, children suffer thermal injuries from scalding liquids such as boiling water, tea, soup, or steam.According to him, the main cause of illness and mortality following burn injuries is infectious complications, since thermal trauma significantly weakens the body’s immune defenses.At present, the mechanisms of immune protection in burn patients are still insufficiently studied, and specialists are searching for ways to improve treatment effectiveness, the researcher noted.Specialists at Tyumen Medical University studied the activity of blood T-lymphocytes in young children with burn injuries. T-lymphocytes are key immune system cells — a type of white blood cell that matures in the thymus and is responsible for adaptive immunity. They identify and destroy virus-infected, bacterial, or tumor cells and regulate immune responses.The scientists concluded that treatment of children with burn injuries using immune-regulating drugs (immunomodulators) should begin within the first hours after thermal trauma.“Monitoring patients’ immune status alongside therapy will help prevent secondary bacterial infection and accelerate wound healing or make skin transplantation more successful,” the surgeon added.Researchers at Tyumen Medical University plan to prepare clinical guidelines for physicians based on these findings in the near future.