LAUSR

Study Objectives: Systemic Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus responsible for the illness “COVID-19,” was announced by China in December 2019 Soon after, a pandemic was declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) in March 2020 Cases of COVID-19 in Pennsylvania (PA) were first announced on March 6, 2020 Subsequently, there were limitations of gatherings and travel, closure of schools and non-essential businesses and physical distancing With limitations, children were at home for longer periods of time and subsequently had increased access to potentially poisonous substances, such as over the counter medications, prescriptions, medications that are only delivered in a clinic but were given for home use due to closures, and increased amounts of cleaning supplies The inherent isolation that comes with physical distancing was feared to surge depression and suicidal gestures particularly among adolescents We know from previous natural disasters that an increase in reported exposures to poison control centers follow a major incident We anticipated an increase in reported pediatric exposures to the Poison Control Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP PCC) and nationally during the COVID-19 pandemic Methods: We analyzed all reported pediatric cases (less than 18 years old) in the American Association of Poison Control Centers’ National Poison Data System (NPDS) and the CHOP PCC of eastern Pennsylvania and Delaware Timeframes analyzed included January 1, 2020 to May 31, 2020, which were compared to the same timeframes in 2018 and 2019 The data was then characterized by total reported cases per month, and subsequently by age groups of zero to five years, six to twelve years, and thirteen to eighteen years Out of the separated groups, we evaluated sex, site of reported case, unintentional or intentional ingestion, and reported outcomes Results: The number of reported pediatric poisonings did not vary significantly when comparing each month of 2020 to the previous two years Sex, intent, and medical outcomes did not vary significantly from year to year or following the implementation of the stay-at-home order The greatest increase observed was among the age group six to twelve years with site listed as “own residence,” or the percentage of reports coming from a home, when comparing the months of March through May in the year 2019 to 2020 on both the local level (OR 2 2;95% CI 1 8-2 6, P<0 0001) and the national level (OR 2 15;95% CI 2 08-2 23, P<0 0001) This reflects a statistically significant increase in poisonings occurring in the home during a pandemic when compared to the same time in the year previous Conclusions: Following the implementation of stay-at-home orders during the COVID-19 pandemic, total volume of pediatric poisonings reported to both the CHOP PCC and nationally did not increase when compared to previous years However, the number of exposures listed as occurring in “own residence” increased significantly from March through May 2020 when compared to the year prior, particularly in the age group six to twelve years This is important for emergency physicians to be aware of as many predictions call for “a second wave,” as with the usual course of other coronaviruses Additional stay-at-home orders to help mitigate spread of the virus may occur, along with an increase in school-aged children with reported poisonings