Abstract

LEONARDO-CABELLO, María Teresa; GUERRA-DIEZ, José Lorenzo; FERNANDEZ CALDERON, Lucía  and  LOPEZ FERNANDEZ, Cristina. Accidental pure essential tea tree oil ( Malaleuca alternifolia ) administration in two infants. Rev Pediatr Aten Primaria [online]. 2016, vol.18, n.71, pp.e125-e128. ISSN 1139-7632.

Tea tree oil is an essential oil that is obtained by steam distillation of the leaves and terminal branches of Malaleuca alternifolia. In recent years it has become popular as a antimicrobial agent against a large number of diseases.

It is a natural substance that has a potential toxic effect especially if it is swallowed.

We report two cases of infants attended in our Emergency Department who were given accidentally tea tree oil. In both cases parents mistook the tea tree oil bottle with the D vitamin bottle.

The care of these patients led us to perform a literature search of published cases of tea tree oil poisoning and highlight the absence of safety warnings on tea tree oil packages currently marketed in our country.

Keywords : Tea tree oil; Malaleuca alternifolia; Poissoning.

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