Accidental kerosene oil ingestion in under-five age children in Nigeria – The need for vigilance in primary care settings in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)

Abstract

Four children aged between 15 months and two years presented in several different out-patient emergency departments with a history of recent ingestion of kerosene. Majority of the patients lived in crowded domestic settings, and they all presented with varying degrees of respiratory distress, different presentations of respiratory clinical symptoms and signs, after being subjected to various potentially dangerous home remedies to counter the effect of the kerosene. Majority of the children presented late, but all recovered following appropriate management. The presented cases demonstrate the vital importance of prompt emergency management in primary care settings, family counseling on childcare and domestic safety, and community enlightenment on reducing the complications and frequency of childhood poisoning in increasingly overcrowded and less affluent communities.

Keywords

• accidental ingestion
• childhood poisoning
• kerosene
• paraffin
• respiratory distress
• overcrowding
• urbanization