Because the coronavirus epidemic is far from over, disinfecting your hands with hydroalcoholic gel is more than ever part of daily barrier gestures. But beware, several children have received accidental splashes of hydro-alcoholic solution in the eyes following the use of dispensers made available in stores, warns the Ministry of Health. A month ago, the ophthalmologists had also launched an alert in the columns of the Parisian : the hydroalcoholic gel dispensers installed at the entrance to stores and certain places open to the public can easily be operated by children without supervision and can project product into children’s eyes. “These dispensers are about a meter high, and children, wanting to clean their hands, get them in their eyes, which sometimes causes severe eye burns”, explained Laurent Kodjikian, president of the French society of ophthalmology at the time. (OFS).
More than 60 children affected
Between May 11 and August 24, 2020, 63 cases of children with an average age of 4 and presenting with ocular symptoms were recorded by the poison control centres. These accidental projections of hydroalcoholic gel occurred for three-quarters of them in a store or a shopping center or in a restaurant, a swimming pool, a public garden, a theater, for the remaining cases. The children were taken care of in the emergency room for 20% of them. Finally, 2 cases of corneal involvement, reversible after symptomatic treatment, were recorded.
During the same period, more than ten children had to be treated in various French ophthalmology departments for severe eye lesions with difficulty in healing. At least 2 of them required surgery under general anesthesia.
What to do in case of splashing in the eye
However, it is essential to continue to respect barrier gestures to prevent the spread of the virus. So what can we do?
The Ministry of Health recommends:
- Do not allow young children to use or play with dispensers of hydroalcoholic solutions or gels corn take the solution or gel yourself in the palm of your hand and apply it to the child’s hands.
- If splashed in the eye, immediately rinse the eye for about fifteen minutes under running water (sink tap, bottle of mineral water, water bottle…): the delay in rinsing is very harmful and is involved in severe lesions.
Read also :
- 3 anti-dry hand recipes to test (with ingredients from the cupboard)
- Coronavirus: do not wash your pet with hydroalcoholic gel!
