A child aged ten days from Chisinau needed emergency medical care after his mother gave him an overdose of vitamin E by mistake.

Contacted by IPN, Victor Scarevnea, head of the Emergency Admissions Section of the Mother and Child Institute, said the vitamins are inoffensive, but not when they are given to newborns in an amount that is ten times higher than the norm. The mother wanted to give him a medicine for colic and mixed up the bottles. The recommended dose of vitamin E at such an age is two drops.

Any medicine can become toxic for children if it is given in surplus or more often than recommended. Also, the doses must be strictly obeyed, while the liquid medicines must be administered with a graded teaspoon or a syringe. The newborns can easily suffer drug overdose so that swift and correct steps must be taken in such a case.

The children of an early age must be immediately taken to the hospital. 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.

More information about how to protect the child is available on www.parinti.md and can be also found out by following the information campaigns centering on the prevention of accidents involving children carried out within the REPEMOL (Regionalization of Pediatric Emergency and Intensive Care Service in Moldova) Project that is financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and implemented by the Foundation of the Center for Health Policies and Studies.