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The purpose of this study was to identify and characterize caretakers who fail to utilize the poison center for unintentional poisonings involving children. We interviewed 210 caretakers of children evaluated for unintentional poisoning in the emergency center of an urban, university-based teaching hospital to determine (1) whether demographic differences exist between those caretakers who contacted a poison center prior to the emergency center visit and those who did not and (2) whether differences exist in prevalence of poison prevention knowledge and behaviors between the two groups. Ninety-six (46%) of caretakers did not contact the poison center prior to the emergency center visit. Significant differences were found between the two groups for the following caretaker variables: race/ethnicity, language preference, age, level of education, country in which schooling occurred, and type of insurance coverage for the child. When logistic regression was used to control for confounding, the two variables associated with failure to use the poison center were black race and schooled outside the United States (primarily in Mexico). Poison center callers reported a higher prevalence of poison prevention knowledge and behaviors than noncallers. Educational interventions should be targeted to the groups of caretakers identified who do not use the poison center.

This study examines the stability of both components of the antibacterial combination, cotrimoxazole (trimethoprim and sulphamethoxazole) in peritoneal dialysis fluid stored in polyvinyl chloride bags and glass ampoules at room temperature for up to nine days. Greater than 10% loss of trimethoprim occurred within three days for admixtures stored in plastic bags, whereas the original concentration remained virtually unchanged after nine days for similar solutions stored in glass ampoules. This indicated that the loss of trimethoprim observed in solutions stored in plastic bags was associated primarily with the nature of the container, presumably due to some form of uptake by or loss through the plastic. Greater than 10% loss of sulphamethoxazole occurred within two days for all admixtures examined, stored in either glass or plastic containers. This degree of loss was achieved within 12 h for one admixture stored in plastic. There was also the time-dependent appearance of an additional peak in HPLC analyses of these solutions, indicating that loss of sulphamethoxazole was due to chemical decomposition of the drug in the peritoneal dialysis fluid. The shelf-life of such admixtures would be limited by the stability of the sulphamethoxazole component, with the available data suggesting a shelf-life of 12 h for solutions stored at room temperature.