Poisoning kills 14 people in one year

SOME 14 people died from poisoning last year, a report revealed last night.

Figures from the National Poisons Information Centre showed staff received almost 13,000 calls and solved all the cases bar 15.

The centre dealt with 12,655 calls last year from hospital doctors and other health staff, seeking help and advice about suspected poisonings, with 4,377 of these calls relating to children under the age of 10.

Paracetamol is the top agent implicated in poisonings.

The report said most cases of accidental poisoning in children involve household products, medicines and cosmetics.

It warned parents about the danger of pouring household chemicals from their original containers into soft drinks bottles, which do not have child resistant containers.

Experts at the centre, based in Dublin’s Beaumont Hospital, said most cases of poisoning occurred in the home while a small proportion occurred at work, in hospitals and nursing homes.

Officials at the unit revealed 177 cases of poisoning were followed up. Some 138 of these recovered completely, 10 cases suffered conditions or diseases and the outcome of 15 cases could not be determined.

The report stated that enquiries about human cases involved 14,870 agents. As in previous years most cases involved drugs, industrial chemicals or household products, while drugs were most frequently ingested by all age groups.

But the majority of cases involving household products, cosmetic and personal hygiene products and plants were children under 10 years.

The National Poisons Information Centre provides a 24-hour service, 365 days a year, to doctors and other healthcare professions on the toxicity, features and management of poisoning.

Around 25% of enquiries were about adults over 20 and just under half involved children under 10. Males outnumbered females in the children under the age of 10 years .