Citation

Ioannidis S, Spyropoulou GA, Pavlidis L, Dionyssiou D, Demiri E. Ann. Burns Fire Disasters 2014; 27(3): 130-131.

Affiliation

Department of Plastic surgery, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, Mediterranean Council for Burns and Fire Disasters)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

26170790

Abstract

Electric flyswatters (sometimes called mosquito bats, racket zappers, zap rackets, or zapping rackets) are hand-held devices that resemble badminton rackets or tennis rackets, which became popular worldwide in the late 1990s. US Patent 5,519,963 was awarded to Taiwanese inventor Tsao-i Shih in 1996 for such a device. The handle contains a battery powered high voltage generator. The circuit is composed of an electronic oscillator, a step-up transformer and a voltage multiplier, similar to the circuit in an electroshock weapon or stun gun, but with lower power.

The device is used widely in Greece to kill mosquitoes. It consists of a racket-shaped electrical screen which is free of toxic and other chemicals. When the screen touches the insects, the contact generates an electric flash of light and the insects are incinerated. We present the case of a 15% flame burn caused by the flash of light produced by an electric fly-swatter. According to our review of the literature, this is the second case of burn injury caused by an electric fly swatter.

KEYWORDS:

domestic devices; electric fly swatter; partial thickness burns

Language: en

Vernacular Abstract

Le chasse-mouches électrique est un appareil ménager largement utilisé en Grèce pour tuer les moustiques. Il se compose d’un écran électrique en forme de raquette, qui est exempt de produits chimiques toxiques. Lorsque l’écran touche les insectes, le contact génère un flash électrique de la lumière et les insectes sont incinérés. Nous présentons le cas d’une brûlure sur 15% de la surface corporelle causée par le flash de lumière produite par une tapette à mouche électrique. Selon notre revue de la littérature, c’est le deuxième cas de brûlure causée par une tapette à mouche électrique.