An epidemiological study of poisoning cases reported to the National Poisons Information Centre, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi

Abstract

<jats:p> A retrospective analysis of poisoning calls received by the National Poisons Information Centre showed a total of 2719 calls over a period of three years (April 1999-March 2002). The queries were made on poisoning management (92%) and information (8%) about various products and functioning of the centre. The data were analysed with respect to age, sex, mode and type of poisoning. The agents belonged to various groups: household products, agricultural pesticides, industrial chemicals, drugs, plants, animal bites and stings, miscellaneous and unknown groups respectively. The age ranged from less than 1 to 70 years, with the highest incidence in the range of 14-40 years, with males (57%) outnumbering females (43%). The most common mode of poisoning was suicidal (53%), followed by accidental (47%). The route of exposure was mainly oral (88%). Dermal (5%), inhalation and ocular exposure contributed 7% to the total. The highest incidence of poisoning was due to household agents (44.1%) followed by drugs (18.8%), agricultural pesticides (12.8%), industrial chemicals (8.9%), animals bites and stings (4.7%), plants (1.7%), unknown (2.9%) and miscellaneous groups (5.6%). Household products mainly comprised of pyrethroids, rodenticides, carbamates, phenyl, detergents, corrosives etc. Drugs implicated included benzodiazepines, anticonvulsants, analgesics, antihistamines, tricyclic antidepressants, thyroid hormones and oral contraceptives. Among the agricultural pesticides, aluminium phosphide was the most commonly consumed followed by organochlorines, organophosphates, ethylene dibromide, herbicides and fungicides. Copper sulphate and nitrobenzene were common among industrial chemicals. The bites and stings group comprised of snake bites, scorpion, wasp and bee stings. Poisoning due to plants was low, but datura was the most commonly ingested. An alarming feature of the study was the high incidence of poisoning in children (36.5%). The age ranged from less than 1 to 18 years and the most vulnerable age group included children from less than 1 year to 6 years. Accidental mode was the most common (79.7%). Intentional attempts were also noticed (20.2%) in the age group above 12 years. The present data may not give an exact picture of the incidence of poisoning in India, but represents a trend in our country. The Poisons Information Centre plays a vital role in providing timely management guidelines including the supply of necessary antidotes from the recently established National Antidote Bank, thereby helping to save precious lives. </jats:p>

Analysis of Organophosphorus compound poisoning patients attending CMS-TH, Bharatpur, Nepal

“…(1-68years) to that reported from AIIMS (Srivastava et al 6 In our study, the total dose of PAM required ranged from 4-48gm with mean dose of 24.22gm and the duration of PAM administration was 1-8 days.…”

Prospects of poisoning – a multi facet study

“…Zatruciom częściej ulegali mężczyźni niż kobiety, co jest zbieżne z ustaleniami innych autorów [13,14]. Wynika to głównie z rosną-cej odpowiedzialności za rodzinę, stresu zawodowego oraz konfliktów w relacjach z innymi, co prowadzi do lęków egzystencjalnych i skłonności samobójczych [1,[15][16][17][18]. Nasilający się stres jest głównym czynnikiem w przypadku zatruć umyślnych.…”

“…It is mainly due to increasing responsibility in family; stress related to the jobs and conflict in relations which overall leads to a condition of grief for existence and suicidal tendency [1,[15][16][17][18]. The increasing stress is a chief factor for intentional poisoning whereas unhealthy practices or risk taking behaviors in individual are mainly responsible for unintentional poisoning.…”

Analysis of individual and clinical factors in acute poisoning cases in the intensive care unit

“…In our study, the reason of having drug poisonings more might be related with having suicidal poisoning cases more. Studies have reported that the ratio of suicidal poisonings in cases presenting to hospitals with poisoning varies between 47% and 97% [11,17,18].…”