Clinical Spectrum and Outcome of Poisoning in Children Admitted to the Pediatric Emergency and Intensive Care Units at Sohag University Hospital

Acute poisoning is a major health problem that leads to emergent hospital admission.It has become the main factor that harms children and leads to disability and death of children. Also, it is still a serious issue in developing countries where it represents a common cause of emergency department presentation and admission. Acute poisoning can be divided into two categories (accidental and intentional),accidental poisoning is common in children under five years, whereas intentional poisoning is more common in adolescents, WHO estimated that, in 2016, accidental poisoning caused 106,683 deaths and the loss of 6.3 million years of healthy life.

A study in Romania showed that intentional poisoning is the most common cause of poisoning among teenagers. Females are more vulnerable to suicidal or intentional poisoning than males. Medications, alcohol, and substance abuse are common poisoning agents among teenagers , another study at tertiary Indian hospital, pesticides, pharmaceutical drugs, and household products were the most common types of acute poisoning. Pesticides were reported as a cause of intentional and accidental poisoning. In agricultural areas, people were poisoned accidentally by pesticides that may be used for suicidal attempts because of their availability. Pharmaceutical drugs are also used for intentional poisoning due to the availability of street drugs and over-the-counter medications. Accidental poisoning by household products were observed in children and the most common products are hydrocarbon and naphthalene In Egypt acute poisoning represents a significant proportion of emergency visits of children and young people. This labors a burden on healthcare, society and economy and thus, it drain-s resources and multiplies workload . In fact, it is a preventable cause of morbidity and mortality. Children poisoning is a result of multiple risk factors including social, demographic, and industrial factors. Insufficient public awareness, easy accessibility to poison, negligence of caregivers, technological and industrial advances and even the nature of the environment are of the main causes.