[ad_1]
The explosive increase in the use of alcohol-based hand sanitizers during the COVID-19 pandemic has had a dangerous and unintended consequence: eye injuries in children.
Using data from French poison control and a children’s hospital in Paris, researchers reported that accidental eye injuries in children under 18 increased sevenfold over a period of five. month last year, compared to 2019.
Eye injury from exposure to hand sanitizer “is a known complication,” said Dr. Sonal Tuli, clinical spokesperson for the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) who reviewed the study results.
“It is a concern not only for children but also for adults and healthcare workers,” Tuli said. “To my knowledge, there haven’t been recent similar studies in the United States, but I suspect similar injuries are occurring here as well.”
The new study was published online Jan. 21 in JAMA Ophthalmology.
Hand sanitizers mainly consist of ethanol or isopropyl alcohol (60% to 95%), which are toxic to delicate structures like the eyes, noted Dr Sonam Yangzes, a consultant in the lens division, of cornea and refraction services for the Grewal Eye Institute in Chandigarh, India.
As such, exposure to disinfectants “can lead to blindness, due to the development of a corneal ulcer or a cast,” said Yangzes, who co-wrote an editorial accompanying the study. The increased use of the products during the COVID-19 pandemic has made “children more vulnerable to eye injuries,” she said.
The study was led by Dr Gilles Martin, ophthalmologist at the Rothschild Foundation hospital in Paris. He and his colleagues relied on 2019 and 2020 data collected by the French poison control centers (PCC) and a pediatric ophthalmology hospital in Paris.
The review looked at eye injuries and emergency calls resulting from exposure to the hand sanitizer in children under 18 years of age.
Between April and August 2019, these cases accounted for around 1.3% of all calls to French PCCs. But that number skyrocketed to 9.9% over the same period in 2020, an increase of more than seven times.
This represented 232 cases last year, up from 33 in 2019.
The good news: Most cases were relatively mild in severity, which means eye pain, stinging or acute inflammation, swelling and / or discoloration (“conjunctival hyperemia”).
The bad news: Six “moderately severe” cases involved limited “keratitis,” an inflammatory condition that affects the cornea. Several children had severe corneal damage.
And while none of the 2019 cases involved public exposure to hand sanitizer, 63 did so in 2020, most in French malls.
Public exposure also took place in restaurants, cinemas, open public spaces, sports arenas and swimming pools by contact with an automatic or foot-operated dispenser.
In France (as in the United States), the availability of public distributors increased as the pandemic unfolded. And in France, pediatric eye trauma appears to be increasing in tandem, according to the study.
This is likely due to the fact that public distributors are typically around 3 feet tall for a small child, noted Martin and his team.
As such, Yangzes offered a recommendation: “Lower the height of alcohol dispensers so that the level is under the eyes of children. [and] ”She urged. A warning sign should be placed next to dispensers as a precaution, she added.
Tuli of the AAO noted that disinfectant-related injuries can also occur when the alcohol has not yet evaporated and a child rubs their eyes.
“Usually the blinking reflex protects us from getting a lot of disinfectant into the eye and the tearing dilutes it,” she says. “So we see shampoo-like irritation in the eyes.
But if more than a small amount of disinfectant reaches the eye, Tuli said it could do more damage.
“It can cause corneal abrasions, where the epithelium of the cornea or conjunctiva can be damaged, similar to a scratch on the eye from a nail injury. It can be very painful, but luckily heals quickly. “Tuli said. “If a large amount gets into the eye, it can cause larger defects, which may require more interventions to heal.”
Since the hand sanitizer is sterile, she added, infections or permanent damage are rare.
[ad_2]
Source link