Exogenous intoxications occurred predominantly in children up to 4 years old, through the accidental consumption of food or drinks. Thus, the adoption of educational prevention programs for children's family members and caregivers is necessary.

OBJECTIVE: To study the epidemiology of exogenous intoxications in children and adolescents of Barra Garças, Mato Grosso, from January 2008 to September 2013. METHOD: This was a cross-sectional, retrospective, and descriptive epidemiological study. Data were collected from the Disease Notification System (Sistema de Informação de Agravos de Notificação [SINAN]) of the municipality, processed using Microsoft Excel, and evaluated through BIOESTAT statistical software. The variables included were: sex; age; toxic agent; time and place of service; route of administration; circumstance; and classification of intoxication. The age range was established according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, comprising children aged from 0 to 9 years old and adolescents aged from 10 to 19 years old. RESULTS: A total of 125 cases of accidental exogenous poisoning was registered, including 77 children and 48 adolescents. Food and beverages (38.4%) and drugs (24.0%) were the most common groups of toxic agents responsible for the poisoning. The largest age group affected by intoxication was composed of children aged from 0 to 4 years old (43.2%) and adolescents aged from 10 to 14 years old (19.7%). Regarding the circumstances, intoxication occurred due to suicide attempts (16.8%) and accidental events (23.2%) in adolescents and children, respectively. The study revealed a higher frequency of poisoning in girls. CONCLUSION: Exogenous intoxications occurred predominantly in children up to 4 years old, through the accidental consumption of food or drinks. Thus, the adoption of educational prevention programs for children's family members and caregivers is necessary.

We report for the first time an outbreak of a highly lethal illness linked to BA, a deadly food-borne toxin in Africa. Given that no previous outbreaks have been recognized outside Asia, our investigation suggests that BA might be an unrecognized cause of toxic outbreaks globally.

No abstract