https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6546-6886
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Abstract
Introduction
The aim was to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on French Poison Control Centre (PCC) call characteristics.
Methods
Reported cases of xenobiotic exposures from 1 March to 30 April in 2018, 2019, and 2020 were extracted from the French National Database of Poisonings. The collected data included call, patient, and exposure characteristics for both general calls and for calls involving sentinel xenobiotic categories related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2020 exposures were compared to 2018–2019 exposures by using simple logistic models in order to provide effect size with odds ratios.
Results
From March to April 2020, 32,182 exposures were reported to French PCCs with an overall increase of 5.6% compared to exposures in the same time frame in 2018–2019. A similar increase in calls was observed in non-epidemic and epidemic COVID-19 areas with an increase in calls from the public (+13.6%) while calls from health-professionals decreased (−7.5%). Despite the increase in exposures, the incidence of symptomatic exposures remained stable (−0.4%) with a decrease in severity (moderate/severe −17.2%). A significant increase in exposures to home cleaning products containing biocides, essential oils, and alcohol-based hand sanitizers (odds ratio >1.3, p < .0001) was observed.
Discussion and conclusion
The COVID-19 pandemic altered calls to French PCCs with a small increase in calls during the study period and changes in the pattern of exposure. These changes possibly reflected the indirect consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic i.e., limited access to primary care, fear of contracting COVID-19 and anxiety related to home isolation.
Acknowledgements
The manuscript has been carefully reviewed by an experienced editor whose first language is English and who specializes in editing papers written by scientists whose native language is not English.
Author Contributors
All authors contributed to study concept and design. G. L. R., S. S. T., A. D., and D. V. drew the analysis. S. S. T. and A. D. ran the analyses. All authors contributed to interpretation of data. D. V., G. L. R., and A. D. contributed to initial drafting of the manuscript. All authors improved it and approved the final manuscript. D. V. and A. D. contributed to study supervision.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors. All authors are paid by their institution. A. D. is paid by Elsevier (Editor in chief of Archives des maladies professionnelles et de l’environnement) and received regional fees (Pays de la Loire Région, Angers Loire Métropole, TEC-TOP project).
Data availability statement
In accordance with the French Regulation on Data Protection, the data collected in the FNPD are confidential data that cannot be shared outside of users and related Agencies.