Archivo Médico de Camagüey (Jan 2019)

Sericeous lead behavior in children exposed to it in Camagüey city

  • Tamara Rodríguez-Fuentes

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 23, no. 1
pp. 64 – 74

Abstract

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Background: there is evidence of an increase in availability and exposure to toxic substances, which place the world population at constant risk to health. In Cuba, joint studies have been carried out by prestigious institutions, which demonstrates the importance of knowing blood lead levels in children for the benefit of health. Objective: to characterize the behavior of lead blood levels. Methods: a descriptive study was carried out in the Toxicology consultation of Camagüey from June 2013 to February 2015. The universe was composed of 12 children treated in the consultation. The variables analyzed were: age, sex, sources of exposure and predominant clinical manifestations for which they attended the consultation. The processing of the information required analysis and synthesis, data collection and descriptive statistics. Results: the correlation of the male sex surpassed the feminine for a total of seven and five. The most important nearby sources of exposure were soldering irons and battery repairers. The patient with the highest value of lead in blood resides close to three sources contaminating the toxic, this case represents the female sex. Conclusions: a close correlation was found between the blood lead values and the clinical manifestations of the disease, which shows that children with moderate levels of lead in blood (10-14mcg / dl) developed greater clinical expression of their toxic effects. Recurrent abdominal pain, anorexia and iron deficiency anemia were the main ones. DeCS: CHILD; LEAD/BLOOD; LEAD POISONING/BLOOD; LEAD POISONING/DIAGNOSIS; EPIDEMIOLOGY, DESCRIPTIVE.

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