If you store acid, like toilet cleaners, at home then you must be extra cautious to keep it out of children's reach. Records of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital state that nearly 20-25 cases of patients with burnt food pipe are reported every year due to involuntary acid ingestion.
Moreover, children between one to three years are the most vulnerable to these lethal acids in loose bottles.Doctors strongly suggest that such items should be kept in secured place inaccessible to children. In case of ingestion, doctors say, the patient must be rushed to the nearest hospital within 24 hours. Untimely action may result in permanent inability to eat and drink or may even lead to loss of life.
Referring to a recent incident of a two-year-old boy, SGRH Paediatric Gastroenterologist Nishant Wadhwa said, "The boy was admitted after he accidentally ingested bathroom cleaner some 36 hours back which was kept in empty soft drink bottle. Due to late referral and absence of timely insertion of feeding tube, this child cannot eat or drink anything. Due to inability to feed, his own defence mechanism against infections is compromised, leading to further complications." The child is presently on intravenous fluids, broad spectrum antibiotics and proton pump inhibitors. He has developed serious infections of oesophagus (upper food pipe) with continuous fever.
"Within 24 hours of ingestion, an endoscopy needs to be performed and a nasogastric tube is inserted endoscopically into the intestine. Ingestion of as small amount as 10 ml can also have dire consequences," Wadhwa said.