Citation

Dos Santos BP, de Gouveia GC, Eller S, Pego AMF, Sebben VC, de Oliveira TF. Forensic Toxicol. 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s11419-020-00558-3

PMID

33193902 PMCID

Abstract

Recent times have shown an increasing number of intoxication cases, resulting in damaging public health issues all around the globe, and Brazil is not an exception [1]. Most of the cases observed denoted the use of psychoactive substances, such as recreational drugs and medication for psychiatric use [2]. Currently, with the COVID-19 pandemic, both strict lockdown and general social distance rules have been recommended. The application of such public health control measures resulted in personal behavior alterations, considering that, during quarantine, individuals find themselves deprived of any social interactions, which can ultimately modulate the profile of poisonings [3].

The present study seeks to verify possible temporal changes in the poisoning profiles of Rio Grande do Sul state, southern Brazil, due to the COVID-19 outbreak. For this purpose, data was gathered from cases of intoxication by the five main classes of psychoactive substances: anticonvulsants, antidepressants, antipsychotics, benzodiazepines, and recreational drugs, arriving at the Toxicological Information Center of Rio Grande do Sul, from March to July 2019 and from March to July 2020 (Table 1). The data analyzed are comprised of a wide range of incidents, verified by the many variables obtained, such as age, gender, circumstance of exposure, and location of exposure. Out of the 8588 cases attended by our team during the quarantine, a reduction of − 6% in comparison with the same period in the last year was observed; 3179 cases were included in the five classes of substances evaluated. As for the four classes of psychiatric drugs tested, their combined number decreased by − 8.4%, while illicit drugs and alcohol intoxications alone rose by + 41.4%. The reported numbers clearly indicated a change in poisoning profile as compared to 2019...

Language: en