Foot-

operated dispensers can spray gel into children's eyes -

SYSPEO / SIPA

  • Dispensers operated by foot pedals can in some cases throw gel into the eyes of young children, who are at the same height as the machine.

  • The Bordeaux University Hospital warns and asks to be careful with children when they use these dispensers.

  • Several cases of eye burns have been identified since the start of the Covid-19 epidemic.

Be careful when children use the hydroalcoholic gel dispensers, controlled by pedals.

On March 7, a 5-year-old girl received a squirt of gel in the eye by activating a dispenser of this type, in a shopping center in Lormont, in the suburbs of Bordeaux.

The child had to be hospitalized for three days at the Bordeaux University Hospital.

The father of the child, a resident of Bègles, tells in

South West

the pain of the girl, and the panic that followed.

The examination at the Bordeaux University Hospital revealed "an ulcer of 90% of the cornea with damage to the lower conjunctiva".

The father decided to file a complaint for "involuntary injuries resulting in incapacity for work (ITT) for less than three months" against the Quatre-Pavillons shopping center.

"Children actually find themselves just up to the protection of this gel"

Contacted by

20 Minutes

, the head of the ophthalmology service of the Bordeaux University Hospital, Jean-François Korobelnik, for his part believes that "these dispensers controlled by the foot remain very practical, because they avoid being contaminated by the hand as with a bottle ", but warns about their use, because" children of a certain age are actually just up to the protection of this gel.

"

[#ophthalmology] ⚠️Be careful with #hydroalcoholic gel dispensers and #children's eyes du


Follow the advice of Pr @JFKorobelnik, Head of the ophthalmology department of @CHUBordeaux https://t.co/N2MjsEiXYY

- Bordeaux University Hospital (@CHUBordeaux) March 22, 2021

The French ophthalmology society has already warned against these projections in the eyes of children.

And a study conducted by the Rothschild Foundation Hospital in Paris and the poison control centers reported 63 cases of accidental splashing of hydroalcoholic solution into the eyes of children, between May 11 and August 24.

The consequences ranged, for these children aged on average 4 years, from redness of the eye or inflammation of the eyelid to corneal damage requiring hospitalization for 16 of them.

An extremely painful injury

"Most of these cases are not very serious, reassures Jean-François Korobelnik, on the other hand it is extremely painful, in particular when the gel touches the surface of the cornea, which is a very fragile place, exposed in the first line and which is burnt by the alcohol contained in this gel.

The injury, a keratitis, usually heals in two to three days, although it is less common to leave sequelae.

"Of the tens of thousands of people who use these dispensers, there have been very few cases, but we must be careful, insists the head of the ophthalmology service.

Parents should check that there is a small nozzle at the end of the dispenser that goes downwards so that it does not squirt horizontally when you press the pedal.

And children must not use it as a toy and jump on it with both feet.

"

In the accident in Lormont, the father recounts the difficulty he had in finding a toilet to rinse the child's eye.

Because it is indeed the right reflex to have.

“The eye must be washed immediately and rinsed well,” explains Jean-François Korobelnik, “and if pain appears, you must urgently consult your ophthalmologist near your home.

He will make a diagnosis and apply the appropriate treatment.

"

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