Paris (AFP)
Be careful not to let young children use the hydro-alcoholic gel dispensers alone, the health authorities warned on Monday, after the report of about sixty cases of projections in the eyes "having led to eye disorders".
"Between May 11 and August 24, 2020, 63 cases" of children having received hydroalcoholic gel in the eyes and "having presented eye symptoms, aged on average 4 years, were recorded by the Poison Centers", warn the Ministry of Health and ANSES in a press release, after an inventory of incidents that have occurred in establishments open to the public.
These accidental projections occurred for three-quarters "in a store or a shopping center", where the distributors available "are often at eye level of young children" and "can be perceived as a game" when can be operated "using a pedal or automatically", they explain.
20% were treated in the emergency room, most often with redness, pain or inflammation of the eye or eyelid, while "two cases of corneal damage, reversible after symptomatic treatment, were recorded ".
During the same period, ophthalmologists in French hospitals also reported "more than ten children" treated "for severe eye damage with difficulty in healing", at least two of them having " required surgery under general anesthesia ".
Also, ANSES recommends "not to let young children use or play with the dispensers" and "to the attendant, to take the solution or the hydro-alcoholic gel in the palm of his hand and apply it himself. on the child's hands ".
In the event of projection in the eye: "immediately rinse the eye for about fifteen minutes under a stream of water", indicate the health authorities, specifying that "the delay in rinsing is very detrimental and involved in severe lesions ".
"After rinsing, if the child has a sharp pain, consult an ophthalmologist or call a poison control center who will guide the management. The hydro-alcoholic solution can have an anesthetic effect, the pain may subside after a few hours even though there is significant eye damage, "they add.
© 2020 AFP