Dept of Pharmacy Practice, Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Science, Manipal, Karnataka
* Winner of Best Paper Award in the category of General Toxicology
Geographical variations in the pattern of poisoning is well known. About 63% of global deaths from self harm occur in the Asia Pacific, more commonly in rural areas because of easy access to highly toxic pesticides. The case fatality for self poisoning in rural Asia is 10-20%, and 89% of pesticide deaths occur in farming households. Community based awareness programs are essential to prevent poisoning and can be initiated only if the geographical location of poisonings is established. Spot mapping technique can be a highly useful tool to identify prime areas for education programs.
To target the community population who require awareness and training programs on the prevention of pesticide poisoning.
This was a retrospective observational study conducted in Kasturba Hospital, Manipal, in which the geography of all the pesticide poisoning cases admitted from 2000-04 was collected. Spot mapping was done in the Udupi district map to identify the areas most prone for poisoning.
Out of the 528 pesticide poisoning cases observed over 5 years, 205 victims (38.8%) were in the 20-29 age group, 104 victims (19.6%) in the 30-39, and 74 victims (14.1%) in the 10-19 age group. Organophosphate and carbamate pesticides had the highest prevalence with 434 cases (82%). The overall mortality was 144 deaths with 110 deaths (76.3%) due to pesticides, out of which 96 deaths (66.67%) were due to organophosphates and carbamates. The distribution was highest among housewives and those without occupation, viz., 170 cases (33.3%). The areas with high poisoning frequency were then identified by spot mapping.
These findings support the need of education programs regarding pesticide poisoning, and spot mapping can be a useful tool to identify prime areas for intervention.
