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Abstract
The poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) is a much-maligned plant which is thought by the public and some health professionals
to be extremely toxic. Despite pronouncements by public health officials to the contrary,
the poinsettia continues to be recognized as a poisonous plant. To determine if there
was any validity to the toxicity claims, 849,575 plant exposures reported to the American
Association of Poison Control Centers were electronically analyzed. Poinsettia exposures
accounted for 22,793 cases and formed the subset that was analyzed to critically evaluate
the morbidity and mortality associated with poinsettia exposures. There were no fatalities
among all poinsettia exposures and 98.9% were accidental in nature, with 93.3% involving
children. The majority of exposed patients (96.1%) were not treated in a health care
facility and 92.4% did not develop any toxicity related to their exposure to the poinsettia.
Most patients do not require any type of therapy and can be treated without referral
to a health care facility.
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References
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
February 26,
1996
Received in revised form:
December 29,
1995
Received in revised form:
February 7,
1996
Received:
November 26,
1995
Footnotes
☆The data presented in this manuscript were provided to the authors as a data grant from the American Association of Poison Control Centers.
Identification
Copyright
© 1996 Published by Elsevier Inc.
