How many children have poisoning accidents?
In 2002 in the UK: · almost 31,500 children aged under 15 went to hospital after suspected poisoning – over 26,000 of these were under five years old · about 7,000 children under 15 were admitted to hospital, a very high proportion of admissions when compared with other types of accidents. The great majority of admissions were for one day or an overnight stay. · 69% of the admissions were associated with medicines – a quarter of these being commonly used drugs such as analgesics. · 6 children died of accidental poisoning in 2002. One of these children was under five years old. Babies and toddlers learn about the world around them by touching and tasting. This means they are likely put anything in their mouths and are therefore at risk of poisoning. What types of substances can be harmful to children? Medicines are responsible for many suspected poisoning cases. Painkillers are the most frequent cause of poisoning but children have also been taken to hospital after swallowing tranquilli
