Unintentional poisoning hospitalisations among young children in Victoria

Abstract

Objectives-To describe the epidemiology of unintentional childhood poisoning hospitalisation in Victoria, Australia, in order to monitor trends and identify areas for research and prevention. Methods-For children under 5 years, all Victorian public hospital admissions, July 1987 to June 1995, due to unintentional poisoning by drugs, medicines, and other substances were analysed. Similar cases were also extracted from the database of the Royal Children's Hospital intensive care unit, Melbourne for the years 1979-91. Log linear regression modelling was used for trend analyses. Results-The annual average childhood unintentional poisoning rate was 210.7 per 100 000. Annual rates for males consistently exceeded those for females. The most common agents were those acting on the respiratory system and on smooth and skeletal muscles (muscle relaxants, cough and cold medicines, antiasthmatics), aromatic analgesics (paracetamol), and systemic agents (including antihistamines).Further investigation is justified for cardiac agents, some respiratory agents, and asthma medications. Conclusions-Childhood poisoning hospitalisation rates have not decreased in Victoria over recent years. A focused, agent specific approach, as well as a series of generic measures for the prevention of poisoning to children under 5 is advocated. The ongoing surveillance, collection and analysis of data, in addition to research on specific poisoning agents are essential components of any prevention strategy. (Injury Prevention 1999;5:31-35)

Exogenic poisoning in children assisted in a pediatric emergency unit

“…Of the 13 poisoning cases that involved medicines, there was predominance of anticonvulsives and bronchodilators. According to what was verified in other studies, the pharmaceutical substances have been the most frequent non-intentional poisoning category in childhood, especially in the group age of children under five (7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23) . Specifically in Brazil, 33% of the medicine poisoning cases were reported to the National Network of Poisoning Control Centers were of children under five (28) .…”

“…The exogenic poisoning represents one of the most common medical emergencies in the group age of zero to 12 years old and constitute a relevant problem in public health (7,8,(14)(15)(16)(17) . The findings demonstrate that within six months, 0.29% of the overall treatments in the RH pediatric emergency room were due to exogenic poisoning in children under 13.…”

“…Despite the fact that this work is restricted to hospital admissions and there are an expressive number of unreported poisoning cases in the country (9,18) , researches carried out in other countries and in Brazil have demonstrated the study potentialities of the epidemiological characteristics of exogenic poisoning cases in the hospital setting which allow to estimate the incidence rates, the main factors and substances involved with poisoning in childhood, the most vulnerable group age. An analysis of the elements associated with symptomatic and asymptomatic cases enables an examination of the preventive strategies and educative programs (7,(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23) . The findings confirm the pattern shown in other papers: greater poisoning incidence in children under five, predominance of males, most accidents indoors and presence of parents when the accidents occurred (7,(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23) .…”

“…An analysis of the elements associated with symptomatic and asymptomatic cases enables an examination of the preventive strategies and educative programs (7,(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23) . The findings confirm the pattern shown in other papers: greater poisoning incidence in children under five, predominance of males, most accidents indoors and presence of parents when the accidents occurred (7,(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23) . Children, especially those under five, are prone to be exposed to exogenic poisoning given that they are curious and are developing their motor skills (12,(24)(25) .…”

Clinical profile and outcome of poisoning in pediatric age group at a tertiary care teaching hospital, Mandya, Karnataka, India

“…4 Most exposures among children are often unintentional. 5 Intentional poisoning becomes more likely in adolescent age group. 6 Children are curious and explore their world with all their senses, including taste.…”