This story moves Switzerland. 7-year-old José from Payerne in the canton of Vaud is not coming back from his vacation in Portugal. He has died in a Coimbra hospital after the boy swallowed a button battery – how 24 hours reported.
Little José’s family had spent the Christmas holidays in Portugal. The child has now been buried there because the surgeons were able to remove the swallowed battery, but apparently it had already caused severe chemical burns.
José’s mother wants to warn of danger
The child’s mother wants to warn of the dangers of batteries. According to the Swiss media, she explained that her son died of vasculitis – an inflammation of the blood vessels.
If a child has swallowed one of the very small button batteries, they must go to the hospital immediately. The first aid measure is to give the child honey, as this can reduce the current flow of the batteries – which usually contain lithium. The swallowed battery can already cause serious chemical burns in the esophagus. Button batteries can also get stuck in the esophagus, especially in small children.
With the help of X-rays, doctors can see where the battery is.
That Federal Institute for Risk Assessment writes: “If it stays in the stomach for a longer period of time (approx. 24 hours), caustic ingredients released can damage the gastric mucosa.”
The advice center ToxInfoSuisse explains that between 80 and 95 percent of children have no symptoms after swallowing a battery and the batteries are passed in the stool 24 to 96 hours later.
Again NDR explained, pediatricians in Germany have been demanding childproof packaging for button batteries for years. But in recent years, several children have died in Europe after swallowing a button battery.