Poison control center: 35% of cases involve children

More than a third of the almost 25,000 calls received at INEM's Poison Information Center in 2024 involved cases of poisoning with children, the majority under the age of 5, data released to Lusa revealed this Friday.

Of the total 25,940 calls received, 24,688 (95.18%) were due to exposure to a potential toxic substance and the remainder (4.82%) corresponded to requests for information in the area of ​​toxicology. According to data from the National Institute of Medical Emergencies, 8,637 situations of exposure to toxic substances (35%) involved children, 62.27% of whom were under 5 years old.

The main reasons underlying children's exposure to toxic products were accidental situations (59.14%), therapeutic error (22.06%) and intentional exposure (17.39%).

Speaking to Lusa, CIAV coordinator Fátima Rato highlighted that situations involving children, particularly those between 1 and 4 years of age, have been a reality for many years.

“Children are very curious, they have no idea of ​​danger and, therefore, it is very easy for them to get their hands on everything, whether it be medicines, detergents or cleaning products, and therefore, you can never be too careful ,” he stressed.

Fátima Rato said that it is necessary to pay “ very particular attention ” to detergent capsules for washing machines or dishwashers.

“Children are very fond of these capsules, because they are very appealing, they have very bright, very strong colours”, and it is very easy for them to grab them, “put them in their mouths, bite them and, in a large number of cases, they also get in their eyes”, he stressed.

There are also many cases of drug poisoning due to mistakes in the medication, such as the father giving the medicine to the child and forgetting to tell the mother, who then gives it again, or the dose that was given was for the older child.

But there are also many cases in which children themselves get their hands on the medicines and put them in their mouths, as is the case with syrups which “ are always sweet and have a good flavor ”.

Fátima Rato appealed to parents to keep medicines out of reach of children and to close the bottles tightly, also warning mothers to leave their purses in a place inaccessible to children.

“Children are very curious and tend to grab their mother’s purse, open it and, invariably, there is some medicine or even lipstick, a cosmetic product, which they very easily put in their mouths,” he warned.

The data indicate that 15,709 of the consultations made to CIAV involved adults , the majority (63.7%) women. In 49.76% of the situations an intentional exposure was reported, 24% were accidental exposures and in 20.49% of the cases a therapeutic error occurred.

The main toxins involved, in terms of medications, were anxiolytics (4,223), antidepressants (3,238) and antipsychotics (2,145).

As for other products, substances of abuse stand out (1,552), including alcohol poisoning, followed by bleach (1,442) and detergents for washing dishes and household cleaning (1,365).

The doctor lamented that people continue to change products from their original packaging to “the famous plastic water bottles, which are very practical”, but then they forget what product they put in there or they take the bottle to a family member’s house, a friend’s house or to work and someone ends up drinking it.

At the time of contact with the centre, 11,112 (45.64%) of the cases were showing symptoms. In 46.8% of the cases, it was possible to keep people on site, thanks to the advice provided by doctors with specific training in toxicology at CIAV (800 250 250).

In other cases, it was necessary to go to the hospital, sometimes because of the dangerous nature of the product, other times, in the case of medicines, because of the doses that were ingested.