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Acute toxic exposures in Egypt population: analysis of a five-year registry from 2015 to 2019

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A Publisher Correction to this article was published on 15 July 2022

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Abstract

Introduction

Poisoning is regarded as a significant threat to public health all over the world. Determining the poisoning trend and its causative agents is essential for developing effective poisoning prevention and targeted intervention programs.

Methods

A hospital-based retrospective observational study was conducted using electronic databases and medical records of acutely poisoned patients presented to the Poison Control Center of Ain Shams University Hospitals (PCC-ASUH) for the period from 2015 to 2019. Demographics and types of the poisoning exposures of all included patients were extracted, and descriptive analysis was performed to investigate the outcomes.

Results

From 2015 to 2019, we collected data from 115402 patients. The current findings revealed that the majority of poisoned patients were between the ages of 15 and 25 across all studied years. The number of male and female patients was not significantly different. The oral route was the most common poisoning route. Suicidal and accidental modes of poisoning were the most common poisoning modes. Greater Cairo governorates had more patients than other Egyptian regions. Drug exposure was significantly more prevalent than non-drug poisoning. In all studied years, the mild degree of poisoning was the most pervasive. The majority of presented cases required hospitalization and poisoning management in less than 6 hours. Enhanced elimination was the most frequently used toxicological management measure used across all study years, followed by antidotes.

Conclusion

The current study investigated the main intoxicated patients' demographics and characteristics of poisoning exposures in Egyptian people. We highlighted the impact of intentional, or accidental exposure, in addition to demonstrating the utility of specific poison centers in the management of various cases and the different strategies that can be implemented to decrease fatality and improve health care.

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Data availability

The datasets generated and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon request.

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Funding

There has been no significant financial support for this work that could have influenced its outcome.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Forensic Medicine and Clinical Toxicology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt

    Walaa G. Abdelhamid

  2. Community Medicine, Environmental, and Occupational Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt

    Maha M. Wahdan

  3. Pharmacology and Toxicology Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Modern University for Technology and Information, Cairo, Egypt

    Dalia Zaafar

Authors
  1. Walaa G. Abdelhamid
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  2. Maha M. Wahdan
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  3. Dalia Zaafar
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dalia Zaafar.

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Conflict of interest

Walaa G. Abdelhamid, Maha M. Wahdan, Dalia Zaafar declare that we have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

This study is a hospital-based retrospective observational study performed using electronic databases and medical records of acutely poisoned patients presented to the Poison Control Center of Ain Shams University Hospitals (PCC-ASUH) for the period from 2015 to 2019, and it was approved by the Ethical Committee of PCC-ASUH.

Additional information

The original online version of this article was revised: corrections in Table 5 were not carried out.

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Abdelhamid, W.G., Wahdan, M.M. & Zaafar, D. Acute toxic exposures in Egypt population: analysis of a five-year registry from 2015 to 2019. Toxicol. Environ. Health Sci. 14, 235–244 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13530-022-00134-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13530-022-00134-9

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