The dispensers of hydro-alcoholic gel or solution made available in stores or other places open to the public are often at eye level for young children. Easily operated, for example using a pedal or automatically, they can be perceived as a game. More than fifty cases of splashes having caused eye problems have been reported to the poison control centres. The symptoms observed are most often: redness of the eye, eye pain, inflammation of the eye or eyelid, burning of the eyelid or increased sensitivity to light. More severe cases were characterized by corneal involvement requiring hospitalization.
An inventory of incidents occurring in establishments open to the public was carried out at national level. Between May 11 and August 24, 2020, 63 cases with ocular symptoms, aged on average 4 years, were recorded by the poison control centers. These accidental projections of hydro-alcoholic gel occurred for three-quarters of them in a store or a shopping center or even in a restaurant, a swimming pool, a public garden, a theater, for the remaining cases. The children were taken care of in the emergency room for 20% of them. Finally, 2 cases of corneal involvement, reversible following symptomatic treatment, were recorded. During the same period, more than ten children had to be treated in various French ophthalmology departments for severe eye lesions with difficulty in healing. At least 2 of them required surgery under general anesthesia.
To safely use the hydro-alcoholic solutions made available in shops and other establishments open to the public and to prevent the risk of potentially serious eye damage, ANSES, with the support of the poison control centers and the Société Française d ‘Ophthalmology, recommends to people accompanied by young children:
- not to allow young children to use or play with hydro-alcoholic solution/gel dispensers: there is a risk that the hydro-alcoholic solution or gel will be splashed directly into the child’s eye;
- the accompanying person to take the hydro-alcoholic solution or gel themselves in the palm of their hand and apply it to the child’s hands;
- in the event of splashing in the eye, immediately rinse the eye for regarding fifteen minutes under running water (sink tap, bottle of mineral water, water bottle, etc.): the delay in rinsing is very detrimental and involved in severe lesions;
- following rinsing, if the child has sharp pain, consult an ophthalmologist or call a Poison Control Center who will guide management. The hydro-alcoholic solution can have an “anaesthetic effect”, the pain can fade following a few hours even though there are significant eye lesions.
The Ministry of Solidarity and Health and ANSES recall that the use of hydro-alcoholic solutions is an essential barrier measure for preventing the risk of contamination by COVID-19, when hand washing is not possible.
