‘Critical to future skin cancer risk’: Hundreds of Victorians hospitalised with severe sunburns

Health experts are issuing a dire warning to Victorians to protect their skin after new data revealed the shock number of people hospitalised with extreme sunburns the past financial year.

Almost 300 Victorians suffered sunburn so severe they had to go to the emergency department last financial year, including more than 130 cases in January alone.

The data, which showed older teenagers were more likely to get burnt, has alarmed health experts, who warned sunburns before the age of 20 carried an even greater risk of skin cancer.

SunSmart released the figures — which brought the decades total to a staggering 5342 patients — as the state prepared for another day of extreme UV, which can burn in just 11 minutes.

The health department data shows the state’s public hospitals treated 289 emergency department patients for sunburn between July 2023 to June 2024.

Almost half of all cases were in January, when they exploded to a rate of more than four a day with 137 patients seeking help in one month.

Almost 300 Victorians suffered sunburn so severe they had to go to the emergency department last financial year. Picture: Supplied

Data from the past decade shows almost a fifth of patients were 15 to 19-years-old and Victorians were more than 11 times more likely to seek treatment between November and February than the rest of the year.

SunSmart head Emma Glassenbury said extreme sunburn could cause “second and third degree burns” and it was “really concerning” how many young Victorians were hurt.

“The first two decades of life are actually critical to future skin cancer risk,” she said.

“I don’t think people are aware of how quickly sunburn can occur at this time of year, when we have extreme UV levels.

“No matter what the temperature is, the UV is extreme … even on cloudy and cooler days.”

She said people who wore sunscreen but still got burnt had failed to use one teaspoon per limb, reapply frequently and use other forms of protection — hat, sunscreen, clothes and share — alongside it.

“Sunscreen is not a suit of armour, you really need to be considering other forms of sun protection as well.”

The Alfred Victorian Melanoma Service director Professor Victoria Mar said young people think they are “invincible” only to, down the track, end up with skin cancer.

“That’s when I start to see people and the consequences, which can sometimes be life-threatening,” she said.

“For a preventable disease, that’s disheartening,” she said.

Sarah Sheridan, 33, regrets using solariums and not protecting herself from the sun’s UV rays when she was younger. Picture: Supplied

Melbourne’s Sarah Sheridan, 33, regrets tanning when younger and said she now has damage to her eyes and a suspicious mole, since removed, on her face.

“If I could go back and tell myself to avoid getting so sunburnt often, and to get out of that sun-bed, I’d do it in a second,” she said.

Originally published as ‘Critical to future skin cancer risk’: Hundreds of Victorians hospitalised with severe sunburns