A Retrospective Study of Acute Poisoning in Children under 5 Years Old Admitted to Alexandria Poison Center in Egypt

E. Seif¹, R. Gomaa^{1, 2,} and M. Eisa³

¹Forensic Medicine and Clinical Toxicology, Alexandria University, Egypt

²College of Biotechnology, University of Modern Sciences, Dubai

³Emergency Medicine Departments, Ministry of Health, Egypt

Cite this paper:
E. Seif, R. Gomaa and M. Eisa. A Retrospective Study of Acute Poisoning in Children under 5 Years Old Admitted to Alexandria Poison Center in Egypt. World Journal of Preventive Medicine. 2016; 4(2):32-39. doi: 10.12691/jpm-4-2-2

Abstract

Childhood poisoning represents a major public health preventable problem worldwide. It has been identified that unintentional poisoning is the most common circumstances of poisoning in young children. Various drugs and chemical compounds have been implicated such as kerosene being the most common household agent. Aim: The current study aimed to retrospectively study acute poisoning in children less than 5 years old admitted to Alexandria Poison Center (APC) at Alexandria Main University hospital as regards; pattern of childhood poisoning (incidence and prevalence), risk factors related to poisoning accidents and the outcome. Subjects and Methods: All patients aged less than 5 years with acute poisoning admitted to Alexandria Poison Center at Alexandria Main University Hospital, Alexandria, Egypt, during the period of 8 months started from 1st January to 31st August 2012 were included in the study. Results: This retrospective study involved 620 intoxicated children which represented 20.7% of total poisoning cases admitted to APC at that period of time. The incidence of poisoning was found to be highest in children aged between 3 to 5 years old and constituted 49.1% and 39.6% of males and females respectively. The mode of poisoning was found to be accidental with no reported cases of neither homicidal nor suicidal poisonings. The most common agent of toxicity in children was found to be kerosene, followed by chlorine and cholinesterase inhibitor insecticide. The outcome of most of cases (84.5%) was recovery and discharge, with 10.5% being admitted to (Intensive Care Unit) ICU and 5% mortality rate. Conclusion: Risk factors for unintentional poisoning in children involve accessibility to hazardous chemicals and medicines caused by unsafe storage, aggressive child's behavior, unsafe storage of kerosene oil and petrol, low socioeconomic status as well as low educational level of the mother.

Keywords:
acute poisoning children kerosene chlorine acetyl cholinesterase inhibitor insecticides carbon monoxide prevention

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