Accidental poisoning of preschool children from non-medicinal substances

This article details a recently published NISU study (see rec. # 4931) that shows that poisoning of preschool children from non-medicinal substances is very rarely a cause of death in Australia. Over the period 1979-1997, 27 children aged 0-4 years died due to poisoning by non-medicinal substances. Many of these deaths were due to agricultural and horticultural chemicals (13 cases). However, poisoning of preschool children is a much more substantial problem when defined in terms of hospitalisations. Another important finding of this study was the higher rate of hospitalisation for non-medicinal poisoning amongst pre-schoolers resident in the country as compared to the city.