Global epidemiology of acute Poisoning with an Emphasis to Ethiopia: Systematic Review

Abstract

Introduction:-Acute poisoning is an injury in which the toxic effects occur almost immediately, usually within hours from the time of exposure. It is a common reason for visits to emergency departments and for hospitalization worldwide and its morbidity and mortality is becoming a major public health issue in many countries. Objective:-To review currently existing literature on the global Epidemiology of Acute Poisoning by giving emphasis to the situation in Ethiopia Methods:-Pub med, Google, Google scholar, and Medline were searched using subject headings and key words like "Acute poisoning", "epidemiology", "Ethiopia" and those words related to the title of the review. Findings:-From the review it was found that the epidemiology of acute poisoning varies between countries and different regions. However, the global prevalence of acute poisoning especially in the developed nations reported as decreased. Few epidemiological studies exist in Ethiopia revealed that the greatest proportion of poisonings occurred below 30 years of age and the most frequent circumstance for poisoning was intentional poisoning. Organophosphate pesticide was the most common cause of poisoning. The case fatality rate was reported from 2.4%-8.6%