DOH warns public vs summer skin burns

THE Department of Health–Cordillera warned the public to take their summer vacation seriously by using sun blocks to avoid burn injuries.

Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC) Department of Surgery Medical Specialist II Dr. Gene Estandian said vacationers should avoid sun exposure from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. when the temperature is at its hottest.

Estandian encouraged vacationers to apply sun block if they insist on going out within these times.

He said cases of burn injuries being admitted at the hospital decreased by 30 percent from 2011. In 2011, there were 36 admitted patients while in 2012, only 24 were admitted with burn injuries.

DOH authorities relate this decrease to the information drive the agency had been doing for the past years. They said they had been informing the public on how to prevent burn injuries especially the common burn which is sun burn.

Estandian said most of the victims of burns nowadays are kids one to five years old.

Moreover, he said the common burn injury patients have are on scalding injury. Hot water, hot beverages, steam and hot food are the causes of scalding. Wet heat travels through tissue faster than dry heat.

Therefore, infants and elderly persons, who have thinner skin and a decreased ability to react, are particularly vulnerable to scalding injuries.

The medical specialist also revealed the second common burn injury in the region is the plain burn usually acquired from open fire. He said some burns admitted with few victims are electrical burn, chemical burn, contact burn with machines (like flat iron), and sun burn.

Estandian said sun burn is considered a first degree burn which affects the outer layer of the skin. This kind of burn results from too much sun or sun-equivalent exposure.