And the British “Sky News” network reported, on Sunday, quoting a prominent surgeon, that the number of children undergoing surgeries after swallowing a small battery has increased significantly.
The doctor means “button” batteries, which are known for their long life and small size, which is similar to a pill, and are used for several devices such as wrist watches.
The increase in ingestion of these batteries is not limited to children in Britain, as there is a similar increase in these cases in the United States.
And “Sky News” reported that the cases of children ingesting “button batteries” increased by 7 times during 20 years in the United States.
“We have seen an increase in the number of children being hospitalized and undergoing major surgeries due to button batteries,” says Paulo de Cope, a surgeon at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.
Kobe warned of the dangers of these batteries, as they are found in many of the daily tools we use, such as batteries, headphones and toys, as well as attractive to children, because they are shiny and small, suitable for swallowing them in their mouths.
These batteries can do significant damage to the esophagus and airways, he said.
In an incident that exemplifies the seriousness of the matter, mother Holly Phillips tells that her son Ralph, before he was one year old, swallowed something, and immediately his features changed, and his condition rapidly deteriorated, as he started vomiting.
After I took him to the hospital, an X-ray showed that there was a button battery in the esophagus, and the doctors said that if the operation was not done quickly, the child would die.
In the end, the child survived the horrific accident.
Awareness campaign in Britain, the famous company Duracell, launched a new public health campaign encouraging parents to check dangerous batteries at home.
The company has also released a battery replacement covered, the substance described as the world’s most bitter, to prevent infants and young children from ingesting it.
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