COIMBATORE: The death of a 12-year-old boy from Telungupalayam here on Monday after he reportedly consumed rat-poison cake mistaking it for a bar of chocolate, has brought to the notice that such poisonous materials must be strictly kept away from the reach of children.
S Muthuselvan from Telungupalayam was playing with his friends on Saturday evening when he chanced upon a piece of rat-poison cake.
While it had been placed on the shelf to trap rats, Muthuselvan thought it was a chocolate and ate it. He soon fell unconscious and was rushed to CMCH. The boy succumbed despite responding to the treatment on Monday.
CMCH, being the hub hospital for district headquarters hospitals in Ooty, Pollachi, Tirupur, and Erode, registers several poisonous cases.
CMCH Dean B Asokan said the hospital registers accidental poison cases too. “There are various cases under the accidental poisoning where the children intake kerosene, toilet cleaning agent.”
In case of a child consuming rat poison, he or she must be immediately be taken to the hospital for stomach wash, Asokan added.
Head of Paediatrics in CMCH, V Booma, said the rat-poison cake is very dangerous and can affect the entire body.
“The parents need to keep such items away from the reach of the children as the latter does not know what to consume. The children only have the tendency to explore new things.”
She further stated that children are attracted by packaging and colour and may try to intake toilet cleaning agents, kerosene, or even malachite green.
(To know more about the precautionary steps to prevent accidental poisoning and its after-effects, contact Health department’s official helpline number '104'.)