Doctors and nurses at the Queensland Children's Hospital (QCH) are alarmed at the number of children – especially infants – needing hospital treatment for severe and painful sunburn.
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Children's Health Queensland said 50 children were treated at the hospital for sunburn in 2020 and 2021, with some referred from other parts of the state.
Nurse practitioner Kristen Storey said the burns unit had seen about 10 badly sunburnt children in the past month but it was the babies that stayed in her mind.
"It's sore, the burns are very painful, they have difficulty sleeping because they're all blistered up," she said.
"They have to come into the hospital and have the wounds cleaned and then dressings applied and sometimes they have to do that for a couple of visits — so it's a big strain on the families and the kids," Ms Storey said.
Director of Paediatric Surgery, Burns and Trauma at QCH, Professor Roy Kimble, said about a quarter of the children treated for severe sunburn were babies under the age of one.
"We always see some people who seem to forget how severe the sun is here," he said.
"Forty per cent of all the kids we saw, the parents said they didn't apply sunscreen and there were a couple who admitted that the sunscreen they used was out of date," Professor Kimble said.
Ms Storey said parents sometimes underestimated the impact of reflected sunlight.
"There is always a bit of guilt there that this has happened … not realising and understanding how strong our sun is and the UV that we get within Queensland and Australia," Ms Storey said.
"Even though they might think they've done the right thing by sitting under a bit of shade, they've still sustained these burns and there is a lot of guilt because their kids are now going through these painful procedures," Ms Storey said.
When do children need medical attention?
Professor Kimble said sunburnt children should see a doctor if they were in pain and their skin had blistered.
"Because that means it's penetrated a little bit deeper and will actually require burns dressings," he said.
Ms Storey said parents should not hesitate to take children to hospital if they were worried.
"If they look like they're getting some blisters get some help as soon as possible and don't leave it," Ms Storey said.
How is severe sunburn treated?
Professor Kimble said some children required extensive medical treatment.
"We debride the blisters, taking the top off the blister and then we'll put specialised burns dressings on the burns which usually involve silver dressings," he said.
"… the silver we use acts as an antimicrobial so the burns don't get infected — and also act as anti-inflammatories so it reduces that inflammatory process and altogether these burns will heal quicker," Professor Kimble said.
The specialist said any burn which was not treated properly could become infected and the larger the burn, "the more serious that can be".
"Any significant burn that anyone has, whether it's sun or not, should be seen by a doctor," he said.
Ms Storey said dressings acted as a "big pain relief".
"It covers those wounds and it stops the air getting to it which can cause a lot of pain."
She said some children needed dressing changes to be done under general anaesthetic because their sunburn was so extensive it caused "a lot of pain" to do it while the child was awake.
What are the common scenarios leading to bad sunburn?
Professor Kimble said everyone needed to be aware of the power of reflection.
"Such as kids standing up in the shallow end of the pool and just getting reflection from the water," he said.
"Also, beware of the overcast day when you think the sun's not directly shining — that's a dangerous time as well," he said.
Ms Storey urged adults to make sure children were wearing hats, protective clothing or swimwear and sunscreen.
"I always say go for your Cancer Council, your 50-plus sunscreen.
"It's also about putting it on regularly and realising that if you're going swimming it's going to wear off a lot faster, so ensuring that they're putting it on every few hours."
She said it was safest to avoid taking babies out in the middle of the day when it was very hot.
The link between sun exposure and skin cancer
Queensland Health said sun exposure caused 96 per cent of melanomas and 99 per cent of non-melanoma skin cancers.
A spokesperson said most skin cancers were preventable through sun protective behaviours and curable if detected early.
"In 2019, 4,337 Queenslanders were diagnosed with melanoma of the skin and 322 Queenslanders died from melanoma," the spokesperson said.
Queensland Health figures show 1,016 people went to emergency departments across the state for sun and heat-related problems in 2021.
