South African medical journal = Suid-Afrikaanse tydskrif vir geneeskunde
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We retrospectively studied the records of all patients with poisoning due to excessive iron ingestion admitted to a children's hospital during a 7 1/2-year period. There were 80 such children, aged between 0,6 and 3,93 years. Almost half were severely poisoned. ⋯ Late morbidity from brain damage and intestinal strictures was not assessed. Many cases of iron poisoning in childhood could be prevented by strip-packaging of iron tablets. Parenteral desferrioxamine should be given without delay whenever a child is suspected of having swallowed excessive iron tablets.