Epidemiology of poisoning

Abstract

Despite difficulties in the interpretation of available data, certain general observations can be made on the epidemiology of poisoning. Childhood poisoning is usually accidental and tends to be associated with a low morbidity and mortality. In Western Europe and North America, it is most often due to household products and pharmaceuticals; in developing countries, paraffin, traditional medicines, snakes bites and insect stings are more commonly involved. In adults, self-poisoning is usually deliberate (suicide or parasuicide) and has a higher morbidity and mortality rate. Analgesics and psychotropics predominate in Western Europe and North America as causes of admission to hospital, though carbon monoxide is responsible for most deaths (the majority of which occur outside hospital). In developing countries, accidental and deliberate pesticide poisoning is probably the commonest cause of adult deaths.