Chemical burn assaults: Is the media coverage representative?

Over the last year there has been a noticeable increase in the media coverage of chemical assaults within the United Kingdom (UK). The media portrays a bleak picture to the public of increased severity and frequency of these attacks with potentially severely disfiguring consequences. Understandably there has been a public outcry for tighter regulations. At the time of writing, simply searching ‘acid attack UK’ in Google produces numerous articles from recent months. Figures from the BBC suggest dramatic rises in the number of corrosive substance attacks across the UK in the last 5 years [1] and the Mirror recently described London as the ‘acid attack capital of Britain’ [2].

Source: Burns : Journal of the International Society for Burn Injuries - March 22, 2018 Category: Cosmetic Surgery Authors: Robert Miller, Sarah Pywell, Jorge Leon-Villapalos, Joanne Atkins Tags: Letter to the Editor Source Type: research