A REVIEW ON ALCOHOL BASED HAND SANITIZER (ABHS) POISONING DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC AMONG YOUNG CHILDREN

Abstract

Hand sanitizers are everywhere because of the Coronavirus, but that has led to an unexpected side effects. Non\nrecommended use of alcohol-based (alcohol) hand sanitizers, including intentional or unintentional ingestion, might be\nassociated with greater health risks in young children than similar use of non-alcohol-based (non-alcohol) hand\nsanitizers.Hand sanitizer products are 60–70% ethyl alcohol, which can be toxic to young children even in small\namounts.After the outbreak of COVID-19 in December 2019 usage of hand sanitizers have increased and the reason for\nthis immense usage of hand sanitizer was suggested by WHO as a preventive measure to control this pandemic, which\nleads to significantly increased usage of alcohol based hand sanitizers as hand hygiene.Number of cases reported to\nNPDS about exposure to alcohol and non-alcohol hand sanitizer in children ≤12 years old in the year\n2011–14significantly increased.Initial five months of 2020, American Association of Poison Control Center reported 9504\nalcoholic hand sanitizer exposure cases in children under the age of 12 years and recognized that even a small amount of\nalcohol can cause alcohol poisoning in children. In this rising issue, it is very important to pay attention towards Alcohol\nBased Hand Sanitizer (ABHS) poisoning in order to reduce the risk of sanitizer poisoning especially in young population