Changing epidemiology of poisoning in children: A retrospective study from a tertiary care center in New Delhi, India

Abstract

Poisoning is the fourth leading cause of unintentional injuries in children. With continuously changing environment, the epidemiology of poisoning keeps on changing. The present study was undertaken to describe the clinical and epidemiological profile of childhood poisoning in a tertiary care center of New Delhi, India. All children <12 years of age admitted to pediatric ward with a history of ingestion of poison or envenomation between January 2019 and June 2020 were identified, and their medical records were obtained from medical records department. A total of 203 patients were enrolled in the study. Drugs and medications were the most common agents (19.2% cases), followed by prallethrin (13.7% cases). Majority of the cases were asymptomatic. Vomiting (25%) was the most common symptom. Drugs and medications were the leading cause of poisoning, followed by liquid mosquito repellant. This study highlights the change in characteristics of acute poisoning in Indian children.

Keywords

• changing trends
• children
• epidemiology
• poisoning
• prallethrin