On May 3, the Department of Infectious Diseases, Children's Hospital 2 HCMC received baby P.L. D. A. (7 years old) in a state of insomnia, agitation and continuous nonsense talk all night. According to the family, the baby showed abnormal signs such as loss of behavioral control, crawling on the floor, sudden collapse accompanied by a fever of 38.2 degrees Celsius, causing relatives to panic and take her to the hospital for emergency treatment.
Initially, doctors thought a lot of dangerous neurological diseases such as encephalitis and meningitis because the child had symptoms of acute mental disorder. However, after carefully exploring the medical history and the process of using the drug, the treatment team discovered an important detail: a day earlier, the child and his mother were traveling by car from their hometown to Ho Chi Minh City and were pasted with a motion sickness patch containing scopolamine behind their ears.
Fearing that her child would be tired during the long journey due to traffic jams, the mother applied 2 patches to the baby at the same time for about 5 hours. Meanwhile, according to recommendations, children or people under 40kg should only use up to half a patch.
After excluding the causes of dangerous neurological infections, doctors determined that this was likely a side effect caused by scopolamine. The baby was closely monitored in the emergency room. After about 12 hours, the psychotic symptoms gradually decreased and the child was transferred to a regular treatment room. After 3 days in the hospital, the baby's health was completely recovered, his spirit was awake and normal activities returned.
BSCKI Tran Ngoc Luu - Department of Infectious Diseases, Children's Hospital 2 said that scopolamine is an active ingredient commonly used in medicines or motion sickness patches. However, the drug can cause many side effects such as dry mouth, dizziness, drowsiness, dilated pupils, confusion, agitation. Severe cases may present acute psychosis with manifestations of hallucinations, paranoia, disorientation, language disorders or dangerous hyperthermia.
According to doctors, young children and the elderly are more likely to experience severe side effects than adults. Manufacturers also recommend not using scopolamine patches for children under 8 years old and need to reduce the dose in underweight children.
Doctors recommend that parents be especially careful when using any medicine for children, including over-the-counter medicine. Before use, read the instructions, dosage and contraindications carefully. If the child shows abnormal symptoms such as high fever, behavioral changes, rash or agitation after taking the medicine, take the child to a medical facility immediately for examination and timely treatment.
