Acute poisonings in children treated at the General Hospital in Savonski Brod between 1963 and 1992

In the Pediatric Department of the hospital in Slavonski Brod, 529 children up to 15 years of age (1,3% of the total of 40,770 patients) were treated for acute poisoning between 1963 and 1992. The incidence of poisoning is continuously on the increase. This is particularly clear when the statistics are examined for a five year period, and even more so for a ten year period. The most frequent causes of poisoning in children were: medicines (264, 49.9%), alcohol (132, 24.9%), chemical home supplies (56, 10.6%) and agricultural chemicals (50, 9.5%). Poisoning was more frequent in male children (304, 57.4%) than in female (225, 42.5%), (p < 0,05). The high incidence of poisonings in children by agricultural chemicals in this agricultural area of eastern Croatia during the Spring and Autumn is emphasized as a specific epidemiological characteristic. 62.4% (330) of the children were younger than 5 years. There was a significant difference between causes of poisonings and seasons, the ages of the children, whether the environment was rural or urban and the sex of the children. Mortality (1.1%, 6) was noted only in the earlier period. A very important factor in the prevention of poisoning is parental responsibility. Repeated information about the causes of poisoning is one of the most effective preventive methods.