Pattern of acute poisoning at two urban referral hospitals in Lusaka, Zambia

Abstract

BackgroundPoisoning remains an important public health problem contributing significantly to the global burden of disease. Evidence on the exact burden and pattern of acute poisoning in Zambia is limited. We aimed to characterise acute poisoning with regard to demographic and epidemiologic factors of cases reported at the University Teaching Hospital and Levy Mwanawasa General Hospital; two large referral hospitals in Lusaka, Zambia.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional study involving retrospective collection of data on all poisoning cases recorded in hospital records from 1 January to 31 December 2012. A pretested data collection form was used to extract demographic and other data such as poisonous agents used, circumstance of poisoning, route and outcome of poisoning. All analyses were performed in STATA (StataCorp. 2013. Stata Statistical Software: Release 13. College Station, TX: StataCorp LP).ResultsA total of 873 poisoning cases were reviewed with almost similar proportions of males (52 %) and females (49 %). Poisoning cases were highest in the 0-12 years age category (36 %) followed by the 20-30 years age category (31 %). Accidental poisoning characterised most (65 %) cases in children aged < 13 years. The common route of exposure to poisonous agents was ingestion. Overall, the mortality rate was 2.6 per 100 cases, the majority of deaths were observed in men (78 %). Poisonous agents associated with most cases were pesticides (57 %) and pharmaceuticals (13 %).ConclusionsThe high risk of accidental poisoning observed in children calls for special health education on chemical safety, tailored for mothers and caregivers to prevent chemical exposure in this important age group whose access to toxic agents is mainly in homes or their immediate environment. The results also call for additional regulatory controls on pesticides and pharmaceuticals, which were the most common toxic agents.

Accidental Poisoning in Children and Adolescents Admitted to a Referral Toxicology Department of a Brazilian Emergency Hospital

“…In our study, the most common route of exposure was ingestion, which reached 82.7% of cases, a result largely corroborated by the literature. 10,14,[18][19][20] Our data showed that medicines were responsible for 36.5% of accidents, while other non-medicinal products (chemicals, pesticides, cleaning products, toxic plants, and cosmetics) accounted for 46.5% of cases. The predominance of medicines 7,10,12,13,[19][20][21] and cleaning products 12,18,22 is a virtual constant in studies about poisoning in children.…”

Psychosocial Factors as Risk Factor in Suicidal Poisoning: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…Second, the ease of availability of poison as most of the rural population is involved in agriculture, and pesticides are readily available in the house. Furthermore, the urban population has access to household insecticides, cleaning agents, and medications [2][3][4][5] and finally, the socioeconomic status. The high cost of hospitalization and advanced medical care is not affordable and available to everyone, and during a self-poisoning crisis, choosing cheaper options at times result in severe complications.…”

A Prospective Study to Assess the Value of Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry in the Management of Paediatric Poisoning at Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa

“…(1) Risk factors for poisoning include age, sex and environmental factors such as neglect. (3,7) Child abuse, in particular neglect, is a big problem in low resource settings such as in Africa, especially in the under 5 population. (8)(9)(10)(11) This under 5 population is the age group with the highest incidence of poisoning.…”