PARAFFIN INGESTION - THE PROBLEM

Paraffin ingestion is the commonest cause of accidental childhood pois oning in South Africa. Children from the lower socio-economic group ar e affected most. They drink paraffin in the summer months from bottles or intermediate containers, mistaking it for water or cold-drink. The children are predominantly male with a mean age of 24 months. The cli nical picture is one of respiratory distress with a hospital case fata lity rate of 0,74%. The use of paraffin as a source of household energ y in South Africa is on the increase. Based on a modernisation index i t would seem that this trend will continue into the next century. It c an therefore be expected that the number of cases of paraffin ingestio n will steadily increase if no active steps are taken to address the p roblem. Prevention should entail a wide spectrum of measures, the basi s of which should be a child-resistant container. An effective durable , low-cost child-resistant container which is easy to pour from should be made available by petroleum companies and/or entrepreneurs and dis tributed through their network. This should be combined with health ed ucation on the danger of paraffin. Health care workers and administrat ors should be made more aware of the problem and become involved in he alth education and prevention. Further research should be undertaken o n the effect a change in the colour of paraffin and the use of child-r esistant caps would have on the incidence of paraffin ingestion in Sou th Africa.