[Childhood poisoning: data from the French Poison Control and Toxicovigilance Centres (2002)]

Data for 2002 from a number of French poison control centres were analysed in terms of several age groups; 87 678 possible or established poisoning cases were counted, including 49 355 cases in the 0- to 18-year age group.

The 0- to 3-year age group accounted for 71.7% of cases of childhood poisoning. Accidental poisoning was predominant up to 12 years, while from 13 to 18 years poisoning was essentially deliberate. The principal route of exposure was oral and involved liquids for babies and solid products for older children. The toxic agents most often implicated were pharmaceuticals and domestic products. The place of poisoning was mainly the home. A 'no-risk' evaluation was performed, and varied between 41.6% before the age of 3 years to 18.0% for the 13- to 18-year age group. The oldest children were more often managed in medical facilities.

Fortunately, most of these poisoning cases were not serious (death rate: 0.026%). The poison control centres' information system is continuing to expand: it will allow an improvement in medical health monitoring associated with poisoning.