“Sanitizer a lockdown hooch! – A Case Series”

Abstract

What began as a mysterious infectious outbreak in Wuhan in Dec 2019 soon engulfed the entire globe. The whole of India was placed under a complete lockdown (25 March to 14 April 2020) to prevent the further spread of coronavirus disease. In the absence of any definitive drug or vaccine for the disease, people seem to be trying novel methods to contain the virus which is proving fatal.  Hand hygiene products are heavily used in community and healthcare settings in everyday life to maintain hand hygiene. During the lockdown period, many alcoholics suffered acute withdrawal and delirium episodes. WHO and FDA recommended alcohol-based hand sanitizers for frequent hand hygiene which contain mainly ethanol, isopropyl alcohol, and hydrogen peroxide in varying proportions¹.Methanol must never be used in such a product because oral, pulmonary, and skin exposure can result in severe local and systemic toxicity and even death². More than 4% methanol must be labelled as poison³. In a recent study by the Mumbai-based Consumer Guidance Society of India, 122 hand sanitizer tested, 37% were of poor quality and 4% contained the toxic chemical methanol⁴. Instead of liquor, these addicts resorted to consuming hand sanitizers. We have encountered six cases of sanitizer poisoning during the lockdown period. Here we discuss a case series of poisoning due to the consumption of the sanitizer – a novel Hooch in the lockdown period.