Intoxication by hand-sanitiser cases rocket 900% in Spain

Cases of intoxication by hand-sanitising gel have rocketed this year alongside the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in Spain.

The Spanish National Toxicological and Forensic Institute (INTCF) said intoxications from gels are at 874 so far this year.

This number is a 900% increase on all reported cases of 2019, some 90 cases.

Children, especially toddlers, accounted for nearly two-thirds of the cases.

Concretely, 585 cases were in children, with 368 younger than two years of age.

“More than 84% was orally; 7%, through the ocular mucosa; almost 3%, by inhalation; and more than 2% by skin exposure,” a press release of the report said.

It added that 80% of cases presented mild symptoms such as eye irritation, nausea, diarrhoea and/ or coughing.