Accidental poisonings of children under 10 are rising sharply in Britain, reveal new figures today from the UK .
The data show that calls to the unit from doctors and nurses about childhood poisonings rose by 11 per cent in 2008-9, compared with the previous year.
Altogether, the child-related inquiries accounted for 92 per cent of the total 18,864 received by the unit. Most were cases in which children had accidentally swallowed medicines such as the painkillers ibuprofen and paracetamol.
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鈥淭here鈥檚 no obvious explanation for the rise,鈥� says , director of the NPIS鈥檚 unit in Newcastle upon Tyne. 鈥淏ut the overall message is that parents need to be looking more carefully after the poisons around their homes, so they鈥檙e not available to children,鈥� he said.
Lock 鈥檈m up
鈥淢edicines and toxic household chemicals should be locked away where possible and kept in their original containers with childproof lids, and a large number of these incidents would be avoided,鈥� said Thomas. 鈥淚t鈥檚 simply common sense.鈥�
The data also reveal the first inquiries to the unit about adverse effects from new recreational drugs including dimethoxybromophenethylamine (2C-B), trifluoromethylphenylpiperazine (TPMPP), and 鈥淏romodragonfly鈥�. All are stimulants, producing effects similar to amphetamines.
鈥淭hey cause increased heart rate and blood pressure, and may cause some degree of high, but then confusion and delirium,鈥� says Thomas. 鈥淪ome could cause strokes or heart attacks, but how common these new drugs are we really don鈥檛 know,鈥� he says. 鈥淓nquiries were relatively few in number, but it could be an early warning sign that we鈥檒l see more cases in the future.鈥�
Another new drug, benzylpiperazine, gives a synthetic 鈥�herbal high鈥� similar to amphetamines and could cause seizures.
Surveillance
Gammbutylactone (GBL), meanwhile, carries a risk of central nervous system depression followed by unconsciousness. Thomas says it could be difficult to control as it鈥檚 legally available as a chemical cleaning fluid. In the body, it鈥檚 converted to gamma hydroxybutyrate, a neurotransmitter that has sedative effects.
鈥淲e put all these in the report as part of our surveillance for health trends that might become significant in the future,鈥� says Thomas.
Ironically, inquiries about amphetamines themselves and Ecstasy (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, or MDMA) have fallen compared to the previous year.
鈥淚t may be the numbers consuming them are declining, or maybe health professionals are now more used to dealing with cases, and so don鈥檛 need to ring us,鈥� said Thomas.
