Washington (AFP)
The number of calls to American poison control centers has increased by 20% this year for poisoning with cleaners and disinfectants, especially bleach and hydroalcoholic gels, reported the American Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Monday.
The centers received 45,550 calls related to the two categories from January to March, compared to 37,822 in January-March 2019. The increase is undoubtedly linked to the Covid-19 pandemic due to the coincidence with the start of the outbreak. American, early March, judge the authors.
Twice as many calls were received for the inhalation of disinfectants. About 40% of the calls concerned children five years of age or younger.
Two illustrative examples are described by public health officials in their report.
A woman heard on the news that fruits and vegetables should be washed after buying them. She filled her sink with hot water, vinegar and 10% bleach, before plunging her products into it. The bleach / vinegar mixture triggered a chemical reaction and produced chlorine vapors that made the woman cough. She called for help, was transported by ambulance to the hospital, where her breathing improved with oxygen treatment and dilation of the bronchi.
The other example concerns a girl under the age of five who ingested hydroalcoholic gel based on ethanol from a bottle of almost two liters. Feeling dizzy, she fell and hit her head. His blood alcohol level was 273 mg / dL (more than three or four times the limit for driving while intoxicated depending on the jurisdiction). The child remained 48 hours in the hospital.
The authors do not specify the number of deaths linked to these poisonings.
© 2020 AFP