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Pediatría (Asunción)

On-line version ISSN 1683-9803

Abstract

ABENTE OJEDA, María Lucía; BLANES GONZALEZ, Montserrat  and  PRESENTADO DE NUNEZ, Stella. Epidemiological Profile of Poisoning in Children Registered at the Centro Nacional de Toxicología (National Toxicology Center) of the Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare of Paraguay. Pediatr. (Asunción) [online]. 2013, vol.40, n.1, pp.29-34. ISSN 1683-9803.

Objective: To create an epidemiological profile of poisoning in children recorded at the National Toxicology Center (CNT) of Paraguay. Methodology: We performed a retrospective, descriptive and cross-sectional study. The epidemiological profile was generated using the medical records of 117 children who presented at CNT between January and September of 2012. Results: The poisoning occurred in infants in 55.6% of cases. Patients were males in 52% of cases among infants, 60% among pre-school children, and 63% among school-age children. Patients were from urban areas in 80.3% of cases. Poisoning was accidental in 84.6% of cases. Poisoning occurred by oral ingestion in 82.1% of cases. Poisoning was classified as mild in 30.8%, unclassified in 28.2%, asymptomatic in 25.6%, moderate in 14.5%, and severe in 0.9%. Toxins were identified as industrial or commercial products in 35.0%, of cases, of which 58.5% were caustic agents; medications were causal in 31.6% of cases, of which 56.7% were psychotropic drugs; domestic pesticides or herbicides were causal in 12% of cases; agricultural pesticides or herbicides in 5.1%; and veterinary pesticides or herbicides in 3.4%; food or drink were causal in 3.4% of cases, illegal drugs in 3.4% of cases; poisonous animals in 0.9%; environmental contaminants in 0.9%; and causal agents were unidentified in 4.3% of cases. Conclusion: Poisoning was more common in infants and male patients. Patients from urban areas predominated. Accidental poisoning was the most common cause, and oral ingestion the most common route. Most cases of poisoning were mild. The principal causal substances were industrial or commercial products, especially caustic substances.

Keywords : Child; poisoning; epidemiological profile; National Toxicology Center of Paraguay.

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