300 children admitted to hospital last year with medicine positioning

Approximately 300 children were admitted last year to the Mother and Child Center in Chisinau with medicine positing. According to specialists, most often the children become poisoned with aspirin, paracetamol, drugs for blood pressure and soporifics. When the doses are large, the children may die. The statistics of the Mother and Child Center show that most of the children hospitalized with medicine positioning are aged between two and seven. Eva Gudumac, head of the Pediatric Surgery Section, has told Info-Prim Neo that in some of the cases the children become positioned because the adults do not realize the risk and leave the pills within the children’s reach, or the parents try to treat the children without consulting the doctor. According to the doctor, there are three signs by which the parents must suspect medicine positing: the child salivates excessively, complains about stomachaches, and has nausea. It is important that the parents react promptly and seek medical aid immediately. Otherwise, in one hour or two the symptoms disappear and the situation may worsen. If medical assistance is not provided, the esophagus becomes narrower and the child cannot swallow solid food and vomits. “This is a complication of the burns on the esophagus at the first stage. These children need to have their esophagus replaced with stomach tissue or a part of the intestine. It is a difficult operation,” said Eva Gudumac. She also said that the drugs that are present in every house, like the aspirin, paracetamol or tincture of valerian are dangerous for children when taken in large quantities. A four-year-old girl died of liver insufficiency caused by a large doze of paracetamol. In order to prevent such cases, the parents must give the children only medicines prescribed by the doctor and keep the drugs fart from children. According to the health ministry, the traumas and poisonings, including the medicine poisoning, are the leading cause of death among children aged between one and five in Moldova.