When the mother of a nine-year-old girl applied pesticide to her hair, the aim was to kill lice, but it ended in tragedy.
The chemical ended up killing the little girl.
The mother of two followed the advice of her hairdresser and put the pesticide in the hairs of her two children, aged nine and four, respectively, Nigerian news portal, The PUNCH reported.
According to the portal, a paediatrician at the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital, Dr Gloria Nwosu, disclosed the unfortunate incident to journalists in Port Harcourt, a southern Nigerian city.
The doctor said while the nine-year-old convulsed for hours before dying, healthcare professionals at the teaching hospital saved the four-year-old.
“Their mother felt that the hairdresser would know what to do since it has to do with lice. We did everything we could to bring the child back to normal, but it was all abortive.
“She [the deceased] was very sick. The second child slumped in our presence and we immediately admitted her and gave her an antidote. So, the question now is how many of these children may have gone through this?” Dr Nwosu said.
She explained that the insecticide damaged the victim’s brain.
“It affected her brain because she convulsed for over two hours. Now, there is something we do to check for oxygen saturation; it remained low. It never went back to normal. Then they can have something coming out from their mouth. This child kept pouring out saliva. It never went off until she passed on.
Ghana tragedy
A similar misfortune occurred in April 2018 when a young couple in Accra lost their three children to death through insecticide poisoning.
The children, nine-month-old twin girls and their two-year-old brother, died at the 37 Military Hospital last Friday night.
The incident occurred after one of the parents had sprayed their home with the poisonous substance to get rid of cockroaches.
According to hospital sources, the mother of the deceased children dissolved some of the tablets and sprayed it indoors to kill cockroaches, bed bugs and ants.
According Daily Graphic report, the bereaved parents purchased the poisonous substance based on recommendations by a friend after they had unsuccessfully tried to get rid of the insects with regular sprays.
They had ingested a deadly substance called organo-phosphate found in a product called Topstoxin, a fumigation tablet for the control of insects in stored grain, processed food and feeds, and neighbours rushed them and their parents to the 37 Military Hospital for medical care.
