Clinical Epidemiology Pattern of Kerosene Poisoning Cases Admitted to Child’s Central Teaching Hospital in Baghdad, Iraq
Abstract
ABSTRACTBackground: Hydrocarbon poisoning specially unintended kerosene ingestion is a common cause of morbidity, mortality and admission for pediatric hospitalization in the developing countries.
Objective: To identify the clinical and demographic pattern of kerosene poisoning in admitted Children Central Teaching Hospital of Pediatrics in Baghdad city.
Methods: Seventy seven patients ingested kerosene presented to the emergency unit of Children Central Teaching Hospital were studied prospectively from 1st of July 2007 to 31st of June 2008 according to age, sex, socioeconomic, way of ingestion and time of presentation. Clinical presentation, monitor of respiratory distress signs, CXR were done 6h, 24h and treatment accordingly.
Results: Kerosene poisoning represent 0.9% of total admission. Toddler group (1-3yr) were the largest group about 47 cases (61%), male to female 1.2:1, and the largest group (61%) was of low-socioeconomic state. There were 72 patients who ingested kerosene by ordinary bottles, while 5 cases ingested by pipettes used to transfer the kerosene in school age group. Thirty two patients who had vomiting of kerosene developed respiratory pneumonia while only 8 cases that did not experience vomiting had pneumonia. There were 50 cases (64.9%) presented within first 2h while, 27cases (35%) presented within first 24h from ingestion, and there were 44 cases (61%) with respiratory distress symptoms and 3 cases complicated with pneumothorax and one death.
Conclusion: Kerosene poisoning is a health problem in pediatric hospital with 0,99% of admission using vomiting as first aid at home or were advised by primary health care increase aspirated pneumonia , most of kerosene poisoning children need only observation .
Keywords: Kerosene poisoning, Pneumonia.
Iraqi Medical Journal Vol. 56, No.1, June 2010; p.21-24
Copyright (c) 2017 Iraqi Medical Journal
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
Under the following terms:
-
Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
-
NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
-
NoDerivatives — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
