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Abstract
Fatalities resulted from aluminium phosphide (ALP) intoxication in completely healthy
children with no preceded clinical sings or symptoms were presented. Data regarding
circumstances, autopsy reports, histopathological examination, toxicological investigation,
and police enquiries were also collected and evaluated. The affected children were
females, and 6-16 years old. They were completely healthy and died suddenly in relation
to some physical activities such as running, walking, and bathing, without any prior
complain. The viscera showed intense congestion with moderate to severe pulmonary
edema. The cause of the sudden termination of life in the reported cases is mostly
cardiac ones. Physical exertion may precipitate death due to increased cardiac stress,
increased oxygen demand, and by aggravating metabolic acidosis. The absence of clinical
symptoms before death may be due to the low level ALP, or due to the occurrence of
death in the early stages after exposure to poison. Death due to ALP could result
in cases of mild, moderate, or severe ALP intoxication. This may explain partly the
differences encountered in clinical, autopsy, and histopathology findings of ALP intoxication.
Fatalities are not the mere consequences of the dose of the poison, but factors such
as physical activity and low oxygen level may be quite important.