Pattern of poisoning in a developing agricultural country

Abstract

A total of 472 cases of poisoning were seen over a two year period in Kandy, Ceylon. The overall mortality was 23.7%. The pattern of poisoning was different from that in western countries in that 49.8% of the cases were due to insecticide poisoning and only 10.7% were due to drugs, including barbiturates. Insecticides accounted for 73.2% and drugs for only 4.5% of the 112 fatal cases. Of the fatal cases 51.7% were between the ages of 20 and 40 years and only 6.2% were over 50 years. The wastage of economically useful lives indicates the need for a poison centre.