CHENNAI: Driven by thirst, a two-year old girl in Manali drank kerosene mistaking it for water. She was admitted in a hospital on Wednesday and has been declared to be out of danger.
On Wednesday, two-year-old Gayatri, daughter of Seeman Vijayan who resides in Kumari Anandan street, Chinnasekadu, Manali, was playing at home when she spotted a bottle of kerosene.
As she was thirsty, she took the bottle and drank the fuel.
When Gayatri's parents saw her drinking kerosene, they panicked and rushed her to the Children's Hospital in Egmore. Doctors say that as summer peaks, the number of cases of accidental ingestion of kerosene, especially by children, increases.
"The incidence of accidental kerosene ingestion definitely increases during the summer months and peaks in May. Desperate to quench their thirst, they consume kerosene," said Dr P Venkataraman, paediatrician at the Government Children's Hospital in Egmore.
"When kerosene is kept close to the mouth, the pungent odour directly hits the lungs. Even if a few drops enter the lungs, it could be fatal. The common symptoms exhibited by a child who has ingested kerosene are convulsions or fits and loss of consciousness," Dr Venkataraman said.
If a child or adult consumes kerosene, the person has to be rushed to the hospital immediately. Doctors advise people against trying to make the person vomit or resorting to other such measures.
