Half of the drug poisonings in children under five are due to carelessness of parents and grandparents, who mostly remove the pills from the containers with the safety cap. This was discovered by a study by the American CDC published by the Journal of Pediatrics, which also identified the four most common mistakes that are made and that put the health of children at risk, from putting the tablets in containers divided per day to not collecting those possibly dropped to the ground.
The researchers analyzed around 4,500 reports that arrived at poison centers in Arizona, Florida and Georgia for an eight-month period in 2017, verifying that half of the cases can be traced back to misconduct by adults. Among the drugs that cause hospitalizations there are also those for diabetes and heart problems, particularly dangerous for children. If compared to the entire US population, the study points out, this percentage implies 50 thousand hospitalizations per year only in the US.
"The vast majority of parents and grandparents make one of these mistakes - they explain -: to remember to take the drugs they are removed from the original packaging to finish, divided per day, into easier to open containers. Adults also often put the pills on the bedside table or in the kitchen drawers, or, when traveling, in plastic bags or other travel containers. And often it is just an accident. Someone drops the pills and cannot find them all when he collects them.
Drugs, half of the children's poisonings for 4 adult errors
2020-02-18T10:02:43.501Z
Half of the drug poisonings in children under five are due to carelessness of parents and grandparents, who mostly remove the pills from the containers with the safety cap. (HANDLE)
