[Acute poisoning in pediatrics at the CHU of Yopougon, Côte d'Ivoire].

From 1st January 1995 to 31st December 1996, 92 children from 1 month to 15 years old admitted for poisoning were studied. The purpose of this work was to describe the characteristics of child intoxication in our area; 64% were under 5 five years. Petroleum was the main poison (25/92). Certain traditional measures carried out by parents were identified as dangerous because leading to a high mortality rate. Two deaths were due to petroleum poisoning. In 96% of the cases, it was due to an inappropriate conservation of the hydrocarbure. The intoxications by amino-4-quinolines were also mainly due to bad self-medication. For these reasons, parents must be educated.