Is COVID-19 the current world-wide pandemic having effects on the profile of psychoactive substance poisonings?
- PDF / 596,652 Bytes
- 4 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 7 Downloads / 138 Views
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Is COVID‑19 the current world‑wide pandemic having effects on the profile of psychoactive substance poisonings? Bruno Pereira dos Santos1,3 · Giovanna Cristiano de Gouveia1,2,3 · Sarah Eller1 · Ana Miguel Fonseca Pego4 · Viviane Cristina Sebben2 · Tiago Franco de Oliveira1 Received: 16 September 2020 / Accepted: 2 October 2020 © Japanese Association of Forensic Toxicology 2020
Dear Editor, 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 Bruno Pereira dos Santos and Giovanna Cristiano de Gouveia contributed equally to this article. * Tiago Franco de Oliveira [email protected] 1
Pharmacosciences Department, Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, RS 90050‑170, Brazil
2
Toxicological Information Center of Rio Grande Sul, Porto Alegre, RS 90610‑000, Brazil
3
Voluntary Research Service, National Secretariat for Drug Policies, Ministry of Justice and Public Security, Federal Government of Brazil, Brasilia, DF 70064‑900, Brazil
4
Dutch Screening Group, Maastricht 6229 GS, The Netherlands
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. Within recreational drugs (alcohol, amphetamine, cocaine, ecstasy/MDMA, inhalants, LSD, and marijuana), the highest incidence of cases were alcohol, from 94 to 137 cases (+ 45.7%) and cocaine, from 62 to
Data Loading...
