Poison Alert! Number of reported cases of accidental poisoning in children under age five concerns health ministry

Tyrone Reid, Sunday Gleaner Reporter

SENIOR HEALTH officials in Jamaica are raising an alarm about the number of accidental-poisoning cases in children.

Data obtained from the health ministry showed that last year, 584 confirmed cases of accidental poisoning were reported to the National Surveillance Unit of the Ministry of Health.

Of that number, 473 cases, or 81 per cent of the accidental poisoning cases, occurred in children under five years old. A further breakdown of the figures revealed that 360 of the total number of affected children under five were children two years and under. In 2009, there were 698 confirmed cased reported to the health ministry's national surveillance unit.

Meanwhile, medical social workers at the Bustamante Hospital for Children told The Sunday Gleaner that anecdotal evidence suggests that since the start of the year, there has been an increase in the number of cases where children have to be treated for ingesting corrosive substances. However, neither the health ministry nor the Caribbean Poison Information Network (CARPIN) could immediately confirm or deny the observation.

Several cases reported

However, the claim made by the social workers is supported by statistics from 2007. There were 484 reported cases of accidental poisoning in 2007 compared to 482 in 2006. Of the total number of cases in 2007, 75 per cent, or 361, occurred in children under five years old. Three hundred and six of the affected children were under two years old.

Dr Sonia Copeland, director of disease prevention and control in the Ministry of Health, is concerned because she believes the reported cases of accidental poisoning may be the tip of the iceberg. "The surveillance sites help us to see trends. It would be higher. It is worrying because of the paediatric element," she said.

"This is a public-health problem. "It is (quite serious) because it is preventable. The onus is on the caregivers," Copeland emphasised.

Michael Tucker, chairman of the University of Technology-based CARPIN, said the high percentage of paediatric accidental-poisoning cases among the total reported cases should be a national concern. "Everybody should be concerned about these cases especially since most of these cases are preventable," Tucker said.

The health ministry defines accidental poisoning as any case of poisoning considered to have occurred by accident, that is, unintentionally. This definition excludes food poisoning.

Health professionals in Jamaica do not view accidental poisoning lightly. "It is a class-one notification, which means it must be reported within 24 hours to the Ministry of Health," stressed Copeland.

She added: "We recognise that it is a problem and it is a problem, affecting mainly children under the age of five, and the greater majority of affected children are under age two."

If a parent or caregiver suspects that a child has ingested a substance that could be harmful, medical attention must be sought as quickly as possible, Copeland advised.

Emergency situation

"If you think the child has been accidentally poisoned it is an emergency so you should drop everything and take the child to the hospital along with the substance you think is the source of the poisoning," she said.

After a case of poisoning is detected and subsequently reported, a public-health team, consisting of a public-health nurse and a public-health inspector, is dispatched to the scene of the mishap and an investigation is carried out to determine the circumstances under which the poisoning occurred.

Copeland believes a major public-education campaign is required to reduce the incidence of accidental poisoning. She also highlighted the fact that accidental poisoning caused by ingesting some type of pharmaceutical increased sharply and figured prominently among the major causes in 2010.

"Pharmaceuticals are shifting the order of things. (It) was never so high," she remarked.

Copeland discouraged the reuse of empty containers, as children often will not know that it contains a substance that could be harmful. If an empty container is reused, it should not be placed in low-lying cupboards, and the opening must be secured, Copeland advised.

• Year  - # of reported accidental poisoning cases

2006 - 482

2007 - 484

2009 - 698

2010 - 584