The role of prospective epidemiology in the establishment of a toxicology service for a developing community.
During the 12-month period May 1981-April 1982 277 Black patients with acute poisoning were admitted to Ga-Rankuwa Hospital, Pretoria. The majority of the patients (71%) were children, males predominated (55%), and only 4% were deliberate self-poisonings. Paraffin was the agent responsible in 50% of the cases, traditional medicines in 18% and pesticides in 11%. Drugs were responsible for less than 10% of the poisonings. Fifteen patients died, 13 of them as a result of poisoning with traditional medicines. Traditional toxicology services (as found in developed countries), primarily geared towards the management of cases of drug poisoning, currently seen inappropriate to the needs of developing communities.
D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D044383:Black People; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011039:Poison Control Centers; D011041:Poisoning / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013019:South Africa