Epidemiological profile of exogenous poisoning in children and adolescents from a municipality in the state of Mato Grosso

Poisoning among children in Malaysia: A 10-years retrospective study

Background

Poisoning commonly occurs among children due to their curiosity, where they tend to explore and investigate their surroundings. They frequently put what they find into their mouths as they do not understand the danger and probably cannot read the warning label. As this issue has not been extensively studied in Malaysia; hence, a retrospective analysis of records was carried out to determine the profile of phone call enquiries regarding poisoning among children at the National Poison Centre (NPC).

Methodology

The records of all cases of poisoning among children below the age of 18 years were retrospectively reviewed over a period of 10 years from 2006 to 2015. The data on the cases were analysed according to age group and gender, the circumstances and the toxic agent implicated in the poisoning.

Results

During the 10-year study period, 13,583 calls that met the criteria for this study were referred to the NPC. Of these calls, 62.2% involved children between the age of 0 to 5 years, 9% were children aged between 6 to 12 years, and 28.8% were children between 13 to 18 years. Unintentional poisoning accounted for 96.7% of the incidents involving children between the age of 0 to 5 years, although among the children who were between the age of 13 to 18 years, 76% of the cases were intentional. In all the cases involving children, pharmaceutical agents were the most frequent source of the poisoning. More than 95% of the cases were exposed to poisoning through the oral route.

Conclusion

Poisoning in children between the age of 0 to 5 years was mainly unintentional, while poisoning in children between the age of 13 to 18 years was mainly intentional, where pharmaceutical and household agents were responsible for more than two-thirds of the poisoning cases. Most of these incidents could have been prevented if protective measures, such as child-resistant enclosures, had been implemented and if the parents and guardians had been educated about preventive measures, such as keeping poisoning agents out of the reach of children.

Trends of drug-related poisoning cases attended to at a poison control center

INTRODUCTION

Drug-related poisonings have a high impact on morbidity and mortality, representing the first cause of intoxication in Brazil.

OBJECTIVE

To describe the trends of cases of drug-related poisonings attended to by a poison control center.

METHOD

A quantitative approach (cross-sectional trend study) with data analysis of cases of drug-related poisonings attended to at the Poison Control Center of University Hospital of the State University of Londrina. Data were collected from service notification records for the period 1985 to 2014. For statistical analysis, a simple linear regression model was used.

RESULTS

Of the 36,707 cases attended to by the service, 22.5% (n = 8,608) were drug-related poisonings. There was an increase in the proportion of cases for both sexes (R2 = 0.195, p = 0.014) and males (R2 = 0.403, p < 0.001). There was a trend towards a higher proportion of cases involving the analgesic, anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive drug classes (R2 = 0.521, p = 0.018), antidepressants (R2 = 0.923, p < 0.001) and antipsychotics (R2 = 0.869; p < 0.001). Antibiotics showed a trend toward a lower proportion of cases (R2 = 0.773, p = 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

There was a trend for a higher proportion of cases of drug-related poisonings in males. Also, there was an increased trend towards cases involving analgesics/anti-inflammatories/immunosuppressants, antidepressants and antipsychotics.