title: Unknown Poisoning Amongst Serving Personnel.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Poisoning is recognized as an important health problem in many countries of the world. There is incomplete information on poisoning accidents, which is a major problem in developing countries.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional analysis of hospital records of armed forces personnel admitted with a provisional diagnosis of unknown poisoning was carried out.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Unknown poisoning represented 0.25% of hospital admissions and 6584 man-hours were lost. 85% poisonings occurred at railway station and majority were food related. Average length of stay in the hospital was 14.69 days. Ten patients required intensive care and two patients were admitted to the psychiatry ward.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Majority of the incidents occurred in railways, signifying the importance of health education and precaution while proceeding on leave. Since, most of the affected were young soldiers, education should start from recruiting centers. Few patients had alcohol intoxication reflecting their dependence potential and need for reinforcing prohibition on alcohol consumption during travel.
authors.affiliation: Classified Specialist (Psychiatry), 167 MH, C/o 56 APO.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Prakash
authors.affiliation: Senior Advisor PSM & ADH HQ (Med) Eastern Command, AFMC, Pune.
authors.forename: P K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.affiliation: Associate Professor (Department of Community Medicine), AFMC, Pune.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kotwal
authors.affiliation: Graded Specialist (PSM), SHO Agra Cantt.
authors.forename: T S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Ramakrishnan
keywords: Serving soldiers; Unknown poisoning