Using Syndromic Surveillance to Characterize Unintentional Ingestions in Children

UIs are among the leading causes of injury in children younger than 5 years in NYC. About 3000 calls are received each year by the NYC Poison Control Center (PCC) for this age group. Common UI exposures include medications, cosmetics, household cleaners, foreign bodies, and pesticides. We examined UIs in NYC from January 2010 to July 2014 for children <5 years to investigate the utility of syndromic surveillance in conjunction with the PCC in capturing real-time pediatric UIs over time.

Objective

To describe unintentional ingestions (UIs) in children <5 years using syndromic data from emergency departments in New York City (NYC) from 2010 to 2014.