Impact of COVID-19 on the number and type of calls to the Belgian Poison Centre

ABSTRACT

Objective: The present study provides an overview of the number and type of calls to the Belgian Poison Centre (BPC), and the impact of COVID-19. Methods: Data of all calls to the BPC (1 January - 31 December 2020) were collected and analysed using appropriate statistics (SAS). Results: The BPC received 65,308 calls in 2020 (60,668 in 2019, p<0.05). The vast majority (35.9%) of exposures were drugrelated (21,151 in 2019 versus 20,666 in 2020, p>0.05), followed by the use of chemical household products (11,836 in 2019 versus 12,247 in 2020 (p>0.05)). A 12.3% increase in the number of cosmetic- and food-related exposures was noted (8,291 in 2019 versus 9,308 in 2020, p<0.05). Within this group, a stable number of exposures (877 in 2019 versus 876 in 2020, p>0.05) due to essential oil exposures were observed. Partly due to the impact of the COVID-19 [1] pandemic, exposures to biocides doubled (104.9%) from 1,964 in 2019 to 4,024 in 2020 (p<0.05). Exposures to type 1 biocides (i.e. human hygiene products, which include alcohol-based hand sanitisers (ABHS)) significantly increased from 322 in 2019 to 1,676 in 2020 (p<0.05), and exposures to type 2 biocides (i.e. disinfectants and algaecides not intended for direct application to humans or animals) from 406 to 902 (p<0.05). In 2020 the BPC received a five-fold increase in the number of calls involving ABHS incidents (both liquid and gel-based, as well as ethanol and isopropanol products) compared to 2019 (1,676 versus 323 in 2019 versus 1,676 in 2020 calls, p<0.05), accounting for 2.6% of all calls in 2020. In 71% of exposures, ingestion was the primary route (1,195/1,676), followed by 28.6% accidental ocular exposures (480/1,676) of which more than half of the incidents involved children (257/480, p<0.05), primarily young children aged 1-4 years (136/257, p<0.05). Finally, as people went into the garden and nature to relax during lockdown, a 28.2% increase in exposures related to the group 'plants, mushrooms and animals' was found, with 3,256 exposures in 2019 and 4,175 in 2020 (p<0.05). Conclusion: In its history, the BPC has never received as many calls as in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic contributed to a significant number of additional exposures, and requests for toxicologic advice.