Acute poisoning in children. Cases hospitalized during a three-year period in Trinidad.

The aim of this study is to describe the epidemiological features of acute poisoning in children less than 16 years old who were admitted to a paediatric hospital in north Trinidad. The specific objectives included the determination of the age range most susceptible to poisoning, which agents are mainly responsible, an examination of the need for preventive strategies and educational programmes as well as to evaluate the need for a poison control centre in the country. Data were extracted from the medical records of 169 patients (83 males (49%) and 86 females (51%) with acute poisoning during the period of January 1998 to December 2000. The results revealed that the majority of cases of poisoning were accidental (84.6%), suicide (11.2%) and forced poisoning (4.1%). The largest category of poisoning was a miscellaneous group (24.8%) followed by the drug category (21.8%), kerosene (19.5%), pesticides (15.9%) and bleach (9.4%). Paraquat ingestion constituted 5.3% of cases. The highest prevalence of acute poisoning occurred within the age group of 0-4 years (69.2%), followed by the age group of 10-13 years (13.6%), 5-9 years (9.4%) and the age group with the lowest incidence was 14-16 years (7.6%). The only fatality was a female (10-13 year-group) and this was due to suicidal ingestion of paraquat. All other cases were treated and subsequently discharged. The frequency of accidental poisoning in Trinidad merits more widespread public education aimed at preventing exposure to toxic substances while increasing the use of deterrents such as child-resistant containers.