Despite advances such as childproof
caps on medications, childproof
packaging, increased educational
efforts, and increased awareness of
commonly ingested substances, deaths
due to unintentional poisonings still
occur. Unintentional poisonings are
an unfortunate and usually preventable
cause of death and disability in
infants and children. According to
Litovitz et al,1
in the 2001
annual report
of the American
Association
of Poison
Control Centers,
children
aged 12 years
and younger
accounted for
58.5% of persons
poisoned
and
accounted for
3.5% (38) of
all the deaths
due to poisoning reported that year.
Many categories or classifications of
potentially toxic substances can befound within a child’s environment.
The most common categories of
agents ingested by children younger
than 6 years old during 2001 are
listed in Table 1. Table 2 lists the primary
agents involved in fatal poisonings
in children up to 12 years old
during 2001.
Many descriptive terms are used
in the literature on the phenomenon