Trend of fatal poisoning in Kanpur: a two year autopsy based study

Abstract

Background: Kanpur is not only the biggest city of the Uttar Pradesh but also 9th most populated city of the India and is the main centre of commercial and industrial activities. Kanpur is situated at the bank of holy river Ganga. It is very crowded city and facing the problems of population influx from neighboring towns and villages. Apart from fame for industry, Kanpur lies between two rivers Ganga and Pandu. The land of Kanpur district is plain and fertile with Cultivable Barren Land 185480 Hectare. Kanpur is an only notified metropolitan area by UP Government under Code of Criminal Procedure 1973, and therefore has a Chief Metropolitan Magistrate. Poisoning is an important public health issue in India and worldwide. The present study is aimed to assess the epidemiological variables of fatal poisonings in Kanpur.Methods: All medico legal autopsies of the city were conducted in the GSVM Medical College mortuary, Kanpur. During the study period, 582 cases of fatal poisoning were autopsied. Only autopsies with confirmed diagnosis of poisoning were included in this prospective study.Results: A total of 7648 medico legal autopsies were performed at the aforementioned centre. Poisoning deaths comprised 582 cases (7.6%) of the total autopsies conducted during the study period.Conclusions: Suicidal poisoning is accountable for majority of poisoning deaths in India. Societies at large owe a collective responsibility to this manner of death and mere condemnation or sympathy is not sufficient to curb these avoidable deaths.

A Study of Epidemiology of Poisoning Cases Brought For Autopsy at Tertiary Health Care Centre in South-Western Maharashtra: A Ten-Year Retrospective Study

“…The results are similar to other studies in respect of manner of death. 3,5,[8][9][10][11][12][13] Present study shows that incidence of poisoning is more common in rural areas (n=55, 52.88%) than in urban areas (n=49, 47.12%). The results are similar to findings of other studies 3,[5][6][7]11 except the study conducted in Kanpur [10] where more poisoning deaths were found to occur in urban area.…”

“…3,5,[8][9][10][11][12][13] Present study shows that incidence of poisoning is more common in rural areas (n=55, 52.88%) than in urban areas (n=49, 47.12%). The results are similar to findings of other studies 3,[5][6][7]11 except the study conducted in Kanpur [10] where more poisoning deaths were found to occur in urban area. Rural population forms about 54.77 % of the total population of Maharashtra which explains the more occurrence of poisoning deaths in rural areas.…”

“…Review of literature shows that the incidence rate in the present study is less in comparison to other studies. [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] The decrease in annual incidence rate of death due to poisoning after 2013 reflects an optimistic trend encouraging both government and society to boost the ongoing efforts in countering this menace. However, the emerging trend of relinquishing agriculture related occupations among the people as a factor behind the decline in incidence rate cannot be ignored.…”

“…14 The most common substances found to be used for poisoning in the present study is pesticides (n=79, 75.96%) and the results are in concurrence with findings of other studies. 3,6,[10][11][12]15 Among the pesticides the commonest chemical found to be used is organophosphates (n=54, 51.92%) followed by herbicides (n=10, 9.6%). Maharashtra's economy is predominantly agrarian with agriculture as the mainstay which explains easy availability of pesticides in most of agriculture related households.…”

“…Review of literature reveals that past studies do not mention such poisoning deaths. [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]15 Despite of the existence of laws prohibiting employment as manual scavengers in sewages, such incidents are still happening and are taking toll on human lives. Mandatory wearing of protective suits by sewage workers and strict legal action against defaulters is the need of the hour to prevent such mortalities.…”