Symptoms of the SARS-CoV-2 virus include fever, cough, shortness of breath, loss of taste and smell, irritated eyes, fatigue and sometimes body aches.
Yet poison control centers are seeing a huge uptick in chemical poisonings from disinfectants that have roughly the same symptoms (with the exception of fever).
Bloomberg reports: “Calls to poison centers increased sharply at the beginning of March 2020 for exposures to both cleaners and disinfectants,” according to the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Repeated disinfecting and cleaning may be exposing people to harsh chemicals that irritate their skin, eyes and respiratory tree.
Some of these symptoms include:
- cough
- shortness of breath
- wheezing
- dizziness
- headache
- fatigue
- body aches
- runny nose
- sore throat
- irritated eyes
- nausea
- vomiting
- diarrhea
- loss of smell and taste
In the CDC report, young children under 5 were greatly impacted meaning accidental ingestion and exposure could also be at play. So cleaning and disinfectant products need to be far out of the reach of kids…and pets.
Eye, face and skin protection needs to be worn when using these cleaning supplies.
If you suspect your symptoms may be from accidental ingestion, exposure or inhalation of a cleaning agent, you can call the American Association of Poison Control Centers 24/7 at (800) 222-1222.