Acute poisoning is a major public health problem leading to significant morbidity and mortality in all ages throughout the world. 379 patients with acute poisoning above the age of 18 years were studied retrospectively. Majority of the patients belonged to 1840 years of age with a male preponderance. Incidence of intentional and unintentional poisoning was 48% and 52% respectively in our study. Common causes of poisoning were poisonous bite(50.1%) followed by organophosphus poisoning (14.8%), aluminium phosphide poisoning(12.7%) and rodenticide poisoning (5.5%). Most common route of exposure was dermal (54%). Most common symptoms were vomiting, abdominal pain, local inflammatory reactions in case of bite, altered sensorium and shortness of breath. Mortality rate in our study was 16.4%.

Keywords : Incidence, aluminium phosphide, snake bite, public health, morbidity.