By Ingrid Hipkiss
The parents of a 7-year-old girl hospitalised after ingesting hand sanitiser want to warn others of the dangers of the product.
Experts say sanitiser is a valuable tool to stop the spread of disease but should be treated with the same caution as other toxic household products.
In an effort to stem the swine flu epidemic, hand-sanitisers have became common-place in offices, handbags and at schools.
That's where 7-year-old Asha Glynan drank enough to end up on life support.
“She was swept into resuss, there was a team of a dozen or so waiting for her, tubes down her throat, all the bells and whistles; it was terrifying to watch... really it was the worst moment,” says Asha’s father Douglas.
She has made a full recovery now but was unconscious for 12 hours.
Doctors initially suspected a serious head injury but a blood test revealed the truth – alcohol poisoning.
“The doctor explained it to us, if you were looking at alcohol limits for driving, 20 times the limit way over,” says Chip Gresham of Middlemore Hospital.
The product Asha drank contains 60 percent alcohol and has a reasonably pleasant flavour.
Asha says she licked three squirts off her hands, but Middlemore's poison specialist, Chip Gresham, says half a cup would been needed for a severe reaction – but he says sanitiser needs to be treated cautiously.
“It's the same as if you have bleach or household cleaning products; you should lock them away until they're old enough to understand you can't drink that,” he says.
The principal at Botany Downs School didn't want to appear on camera, but told 3 News all hand sanitisers have been removed from the school.
Asha's case has been a one-off, but he doesn't want to take the chance.
Mr Gresham says that is an over-reaction; Asha's parents just want others to be aware.
“I doubt my daughter is the only child in New Zealand, or the world for that matter, who going to digest this stuff, and we could never forgive ourselves if a child is lost and we didn't speak up; it’s a terrifying experience,” Mr Glynan says.
From now on the Glynan family will be sticking to soap and water.
3 News