Tagwireyi D, Ball D E, Nhachi C F B
Drug and Toxicology Information Service, Department of Pharmacy, Medical School, University of Zimbabwe, Box A178, Avondale, Harare, Zimbabwe.
J Appl Toxicol. 2002 Mar-Apr;22(2):99-105. doi: 10.1002/jat.832.
A retrospective study of the pattern of poisoning cases admitted to eight major urban referral hospitals in Zimbabwe over a 2-year period (1998-1999 inclusive) was conducted to describe the pattern of poisoning at these centres. There were a total of 2764 hospital admissions due to poisoning, involving a total of 2846 toxic agents. Accidental poisoning (AP) and deliberate self-poisoning (DSP) accounted for 48.9% (1352 cases) and 41.3% (1142 cases), respectively. With AP, the highest number of cases (45.9%) occurred in children below the age of 5 years, with half of these due to chemicals, mainly paraffin. In the DSP group, however, more than 60% of all cases occurred in the 16-25-year age group. In addition, twice as many females as males were admitted for DSP compared with an overall male/female ratio of 1 : 1.2. Pesticides (31.4%) and pharmaceuticals (30.4%) were the most common groups of toxic agents responsible for the hospital admissions. Unknown toxins, natural toxins and pesticides showed the highest mortality rates (15.4%, 8.3% and 6.7%, respectively). Compared with the last major survey of poisoning in Zimbabwe, the pattern of poisoning at referral hospitals has changed over the last decade, with an increase in pesticide and pharmaceutical cases and a marked fall in cases of traditional medicine poisoning. Educational and legislative interventions may be required to address these changes. There is the need also to investigate further the high mortality rates associated with traditional medicine poisoning.
对津巴布韦8家主要城市转诊医院在1998年至1999年这两年期间（含这两年）收治的中毒病例模式进行了一项回顾性研究，以描述这些中心的中毒模式。因中毒入院的病例共有2764例，涉及2846种有毒物质。意外中毒（AP）和蓄意自我中毒（DSP）分别占48.9%（1352例）和41.3%（1142例）。在意外中毒病例中，最高比例（45.9%）发生在5岁以下儿童中，其中一半是由化学品中毒导致，主要是煤油。然而，在蓄意自我中毒组中，超过60%的病例发生在16至25岁年龄组。此外，蓄意自我中毒入院的女性人数是男性的两倍，而总体男女比例为1:1.2。农药（31.4%）和药品（30.4%）是导致入院的最常见有毒物质类别。未知毒素、天然毒素和农药的死亡率最高（分别为15.4%、8.3%和6.7%）。与津巴布韦上一次关于中毒的主要调查相比，转诊医院的中毒模式在过去十年中发生了变化，农药和药品中毒病例增加，而传统药物中毒病例显著减少。可能需要采取教育和立法干预措施来应对这些变化。还需要进一步调查与传统药物中毒相关的高死亡率。
