The New Straits Times, April 22, 1996
Q: Two weeks ago, I caught my one-year-old brother eating rat bait in the kitchen. I do not know how much was actually eaten but according to may mother, she placed two pellets and both were missing.
I managed to snatch one pellet from my brother's hand and I believe that he took the other one.
The label on the packaging of the rat bait says it contains warfarin.
We did not send my brother to the hospital because he did not look sick but I wonder if we had made the right decision.
A: Rat bait containing warfarin has been used for this purpose for many decades. Due to wide availability and easy access, we have some across many cases of deliberate or accidental ingestion involving them.
Ingestion by humans carries a risk because it has the ability to cause blood thinning. This can cause the victim to experience bleeding problems.
The blood thinning effects may be seen as early as 8-12 hours after ingestion.
However, the peak effects are usually not observed for 1-3 days and this may last for up to 5-7 days.
Unlike most rat bait that can produce toxic effects from a one-time ingestion of a large enough single dose, warfarin on the other hand needs to be ingested over a period of days to induce bleeding in both rats and humans.
A one-time ingestion usually does not pose any clinical problem even in children. Though that may be the case, we strongly feel that you should seek professional medical advice immediately under such circumstance.
There are many chemical compounds that can be used in rat baits. Though they may differ very much in terms of their effects we consider them potentially toxic.
Getting professional advice would enable your brother to get the best course of action needed.
Make sure that potentially poisonous substances are placed out of reach from children.
