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The coronavirus pandemic has made us pay more and more attention to frequent hand washing and disinfection, and containers with disinfectant liquid, usually based on alcohol, have appeared in our environment. At the same time, knowledge about the potential harm that can be caused, knowingly or not, by drinking such a preparation is not common. The magazine “BMJ Evidence Based Medicine”, which publishes reports of British coroners, comes to the rescue.
- Along with the popularization of alcohol-based hand disinfectants, the number of hand disinfectants caused by them is increasing
- British coroners reported the deaths of two hospital ward patients who drank antidepressants while taking antidepressants
- As children and people with mental health problems are particularly exposed to poisoning, doctors call for a campaign informing about the potential dangers
- You can find more up-to-date information on the TvoiLokony home page
The number of poisonings with hand disinfectants is increasing
Liquid hand disinfection is now a common practice in hospitals, shops, schools, workplaces, and public institutions. Alcohol-based disinfectants are available in liquid, gel, or foam form and typically contain 60-95% of the liquid. ethyl alcohol (ethanol) or 70 – 95 percent. isopropyl alcohol (isopropanol). On the other hand, those most at risk of unintentionally or deliberately ingesting them are children, people with dementia, confusion and mental health problems.
Two cases of accidental poisoning of children with hand sanitizers have already been reported during the pandemic in Australia and the US. And in Great Britain, the number of such poisonings increased by 61% this year, from 155 to 398 (by September 14).
Coroners examining the deaths of disinfectants are discussed in the journal BMJ Evidence Based Medicine.
The first is a young woman, a patient in a psychiatric ward, treated with an antidepressant (venlafaxine). She died in a hospital bed and staff found a container of hand sanitizer next to her body. The gel was placed in an open-access dispenser on the ward, so patients could fill their own containers with it and take them to their rooms.
High levels of alcohol were found in the woman’s blood, and the coroner wrote in the reason for death column: “alcohol consumption in combination with venlafaxine.” After performing the autopsy, he came to the conclusion that the action of both substances led to the cessation of respiratory action.
The second case involved a 76-year-old hospital patient who accidentally swallowed an unknown amount of alcohol-based hand sanitizer from a container by his bedside. The man suffered from bipolar disorder and was taking antidepressants, and began to show confusion a few months before his death, which doctors attributed to vascular dementia.
After he was transported to the intensive care unit, there were complications. The patient died after 6 days. The main cause of death was pneumonia along with acute alcohol poisoning.
- The more often we disinfect our hands, the better? Not necessarily
Following the coroners’ reports, recommendations were made for hand sanitizers
Hand sanitizers play an important role in infection control, however, both deaths show that they can also have serious implications for patient safety in healthcare settings. Not only that, because similar situations can occur in public places and even in private homes.
The coroners’ reports include conclusions about steps that should be taken by hospitals to prevent similar tragedies in the future. First of all, staff should be alerted to the potential risks associated with the use of hand disinfectants. Lockable dispensers should also be introduced and healthcare professionals should carry their own disinfectants. However, there are no mechanisms for monitoring the implementation of these activities so far.
“The combination of increased demand and exposure to alcohol-based disinfectants, and the negative mental health impact of the COVID-19 epidemic,” the authors said, is a cause for concern. Therefore, they postulate a number of recommendations that should be introduced in order to better protect society. These include the need to conduct a campaign to raise awareness of the potential harm caused by the ingestion of hand sanitizers and the requirement to clearly label these products with warning labels.
See also:
- How to effectively disinfect your hands?
- A popular disinfectant drug effective in the fight against SARS-CoV-2. Experts confirm
- Ophthalmologists warn: disinfectant gels can damage your eyes
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