Background: A very small amount of Atropa belladonna (AB) can lead to serious symptoms of poisoning and can cause death in children. In this study, demographic, clinic and laboratory results of AB poisoning were evaluated. Materials and methods: 108 cases with belladonna poisoning were retrospectively evaluated. At time of admission: age, age groups, gender, signs and symptoms caused by poisoning, duration of staying in hospital, laboratory data, intensive-care needs and applied treatments were recorded. Results: 44.4% were female and 55.6% were male. While the most common symptoms were xeroderma and flushing, the most frequent findings were tachycardia and mydriasis. Eight patients complained about astasis and five of them were taken into the intensive care unit. Astasis complaint was relatively higher (p<0.01) in the patients who needed intensive care than those not. Creatine kinase levels were relatively higher (p=0.06) in the intensive care patients as compared to nonintensive care patients. Neostigmine was given to all patients. Five patients, whom failed to respond to therapy, were taken into the intensive care and respond to treatment succesufuly with physostigmine. Conclusions: AB poisoning may seriously progress in the act of late diagnosis and treatment in childhood. Thus, it is crucial to realize that AB poisoning should be taken into consideration in the patients with flushing, xeroderma with mydriasis, tachycardia, tremor, abdominal pain and fever symptoms. Patients with astasis complaints should be evaluated carefully in terms of intensive care need. Patients with a Glasgow Coma Scale lower than 12 should be observed in the intensive care.

Background:The objective of the study was to determine the clinical presentation, diagnosis, treatment, and respiratory complications of varicella zoster pneumonia (VZP) in children. Material and methods: Relevant data, age, gender, month of admission, demographic data, past medical and family histories, physical findings during admission, laboratory findings, treatments given, and outcome of these treatments with diagnosis of varicella pneumonia were collected retrospectively. Results: In a two-year period, 15 cases were identified and their data were analysed. Eight patients were male (53%) and seven were female (43%). The mean age was 4.7 ± 3.7 months. Twelve cases (80%) were under six months of age and nine patients (60%) had household contact with persons with chicken pox infection. After onset of the chicken pox rash, the mean time for development of respiratory symptoms was 3.5 ± 1.0 days. The mean hospital stay was 13 ± 1.8 days and ranged from 9−17 days. The persisting fever, fatigue, and cough episodes were major presenting symptoms upon admission in almost all the patients. All patients received acyclovir and non-specific pneumonia treatment and all recovered. None of the children were previously immunized against varicella. Conclusions: Varicella zoster pneumonia should be considered in patients with prolonged fever and accompanying cough in patients with chicken pox. Probably the best approach would be a trial of high dose acyclovir treatment in children who develop VZP.