A Little boy assisted by his Lola and sister tests plastic trumpets on Monday, Dec. 29, 2014 at Libertad Public Market in Pasay City, which he will buy at P50 each for use during the New Year’s Eve revelry on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014. (MNS photo)
MANILA (Mabuhay) – Piccolo is still the leading cause of fireworks-related injuries across the country, hurting 113 persons out of the 162 cases compiled by the Department of Health (DOH) as of 6 a.m. on Tuesday, a day before the New Year’s Eve revelry.
The Dec. 30 DOH-National Epidemiology Center Fireworks Injury Registry said the tally of 162 cases is 67 cases or 29% lower than the five-year average recorded in 2009-2013 and 113 cases or 41% lower compared to the same day last year.
The registry categorized the 162 cases into 160 cases of direct fireworks incidents and two cases of firecrackers ingestion. So far, there are no reports of stray bullets and fatalities in the DOH registry.
The DOH-NEC registry classifies “firework-related injuries” into: direct firework injuries, firework ingestion, and stray bullet injuries.
The latest case of fireworks ingestion recorded was that of a nine-year-old male from La Loma, Quezon City, who swallowed “luces”, the DOH said.
Of the 160 cases of direct fireworks injuries, 138 involved male victims (86%) aged 3-68 years old, with a median age of 11 years old.
Children below 10 years old accounted for 56 cases (35%) of the 160 cases, while 120 cases (75%) were “active users” of the ones who ignited the firecrackers.
Metro Manila registered 71 cases of the total 162 incidents, of which 125 cases sustained blast injuries without amputation, six incidents with amputation, and 31 cases with eye injuries.
On Monday, the DOH focused its attention to “Piccolo” describing it a small firecracker that comes in attractive packaging with a cartoon character and due to its size and packaging, children could easily mistake it for candy.”
“Piccolo is very poisonous because it contains the substance yellow phosphorus. The estimated human lethal dose (of yellow phosphorus) is 50-100 milligrams,” the DOH said in an advisory.
Data listed in the DOH-National Epidemiology Center Fireworks Injury Registry come from the DOH 50 sentinel surveillance health facilities nationwide. (MNS)