Purpose: Electric scooters have recently entered into wide use in South Korea because of their eco-friendliness and convenience. Associated accidents resulting in friction burns are also increasing, due to a lack of recognition of the regulations regarding drivable roads and speed limits. We present the clinical characteristics of friction burns induced by electric scooters.M ethods: We retrospectively evaluated the clinical records of 48 patients who visited our institution after accidents involving electric scooters from January 2018 to February 2022. Demographic data, including age, sex, time of the accident, the type and location of the friction burn, and associated injuries, were reviewed. Results: The age of the patients ranged from 15 to 51 years. The most common injuries were superficial partial-thickness dermal burns, while 14 cases involved deep partial-thickness dermal burns. Multifocal injuries were present in a single patient in most cases. The face was the most commonly affected region, followed by the knees. The average treatment period was 13.0 days, but the follow-up period was longer in patients with facial bone fractures or other comorbidities. Conclusion Friction burns from electric scooters are increasing, but their clinical presentation and related statistics have not been reported yet. Since most patients were not injured or had only mild epidermal burns in regions with enough clothing, appropriate safety equipment can prevent burns from electric scooters. However, once accidents occur, patients often present with multiple other injuries in the extremities, so proper injury evaluation and management should be emphasized for shorter hospitalization and optimal outcomes.

Infections are a major complication in burn patients. In particular, in immunocompromised patients, burn wounds are prone to infections due to destroyed cutaneous barriers and a weakened immune response. It is critical for physicians to monitor infections during burn treatment, since infections can disturb the healing process. It can be challenging to identify the causative microorganism and implement proper treatment for infected burn wounds. Bacterial infections such as impetigo are the most commonly reported, followed by fungal and viral infections. Human herpes virus is one of the most frequent viral infections that complicate burn patients’ recovery. Cases of varicella-zoster virus (HHV-3) infection among pediatric burn patients or reactivation in major burn patients in intensive care units have been reported in the literature. Herein, we present a case where HHV-3 reactivation was promptly detected during the treatment of a facial scald burn.