Each seventh child that is rushed to the Mother and Child Institute is diagnosed with drug poisoning. Specialists sound the alarm because 90% of the cases are the result of adults’ negligence. Doctors say the children most often are poisoned with paracetamol as the grownups administer this medicine in too large quantities either out of inattention or of ignorance. Also, many children are hospitalized after swallowing drugs they find in the house, IPN reports.
The data were presented in a training seminar for journalists, staged within the national awareness-raising campaign “A Danger-Free Home for your Child!”, carried out by REPEMOL. Head of the Emergency Admissions Department Victor Scarevnea said 78 children under five were admitted to the hospital with severe poisoning last year. This was 3.3% of the emergency calls. In the first quarter of this year, the figure was 4.1% already.
Head of the Somatic Reanimation Section Ana Oglinda explained that paracetamol, as other medicines, is sold under different names. After administering this drug to their children, the parents hear about another medicine that helps reduce temperature and administer it without reading the prospectus, where it is shown that it contains the same substance. As a result, the child suffers an overdose. Sometimes the grownups do not respect the dose recommended by specialists.
Ana Oglinda also said the medicines left on the nightstand is another problem as even the children younger than one can reach them. If a child of about one year swallows a pill of 0.25 grams for hypertension, the tension decreases and the child goes into a coma. The contraceptives are also dangerous. If a child swallows 2-3 such pills, he will suffer hypertension, hemorrhage and then coma. Even if the child recovers, he will suffer the consequences.
The adults are urged to immediately seek medical assistance if they suspect that their child ingested something and not to wait for the first symptoms. The children of an early age must be taken to the hospital as quickly as possible. In other cases, the parents can consult the specialist of the TOXAPEL service on 022.555.220. This service provides telephonic assistance to parents and medical personnel, teaching them how to give first aid in case of child poisoning.
During six years, the REPEMOL (Regionalization of Pediatric Emergency and Intensive Care Service in Moldova) Project, in cooperation with the authorities, have informed the parents about the measures that they must take to prevent home accidents involving children under five within the campaign “A Danger-Free Home for your Child!”.
