Accidental Poisoning remains among the leading health hazards in young children despite frantic efforts of prevention worldwide. In Egypt, decreased awareness still prevails in most rural and semi urban areas. This study aims at reviewing the pattern of poisoning in children for better planning of preventive strategies. Methods: A review of the interval between the year 2005 through 2006 was done Retrospectively for 500 consecutive children aged 14 years or below presenting with accidental poisoning to NECTR(national Egyptian center for toxicological research) to assess pattern
of intoxication among them . Our study included only subjects hospitalized at our center.Results: There was a Male preponderance of (60.6%)(n=303) . Cases presenting between 2 and 5 years of age constituted the majority of cases (56.6%) (n=283). Household products constituted (55.4%) (n=277), medicinal(therapeutic and non therapeutic)
(55.4%) (n=277), medicinal(therapeutic and non therapeutic) drugs constituted (28.2%) (n=141), food poisoning constituted (7.6%) (n=38), animal bites or stings ( 2.8%) (n=14) and poisoning due to unknown substances constituted (6%)(n=30) .Conclusion: Accidental poisoning remains a significant problem to date in Egypt and needs spread of health awareness to minimize this preventable problem.