Doctors in the UAE are urging parents to lock away magnets and button batteries after a significant increase in the number of children being treated for ingesting or choking on foreign objects.
Al Jalila Children’s Specialty Hospital in Dubai treated more than 50 children for the condition in 2021 after items became lodged in their airway or digestive tract.
There have been nine similar cases so far this year, it said.
Most objects, such as marbles, buttons or earrings, pass through without serious injury.
But button batteries and magnets can be lethal.
Batteries and magnets can burn through the oesophagus within two hours. Early detection can avoid long-term consequences
Dr Christos Tzivinikos,
gastroenterology consultant
Coin lithium batteries, which are usually small and easy to swallow, trigger an electrical current when they come into contact with saliva or mucus. The chemical reaction can severely burn the oesophagus in only two hours, so early treatment is important.
“These batteries can create a strong chemical reaction in the throat or stomach, leading to severe internal bleeding and a host of other issues,” said Dr Christos Tzivinikos, gastroenterology consultant with the hospital's Aerodigestive Service.
“Any swallowed object can get trapped in the oesophagus before reaching the stomach, requiring expert medical treatment at a specialised aerodigestive hospital to ensure safe removal.
"Batteries and magnets can burn through the oesophagus within two hours, meaning early detection is often the difference between a quick and complete recovery and long-term consequences.”
The hospital has also seen cases of swallowed magnets, which can stick together in the intestines and bowels, squeezing tissues and cutting the blood supply.
In 2021, the UAE banned the sale of small magnetic balls – popularly known as rare-earth magnets – because of the risk they pose to children who swallow them.
Doctors said diagnosis can be particularly difficult in infants, who cannot explain what they swallowed or how they feel.
Symptoms are not always immediately apparent. But children may develop breathing difficulties or become generally unwell.
Swallowed batteries may cause them to cough or vomit blood, according to the UK's National Health Service. And batteries inserted into the nose or ear could cause nose bleeds or bleeding from the ear, it said.
Other red flags include drooling and discomfort.
“Parents must be extremely attentive to where small, harmful objects can be found around their homes,” said Dr Safeena Kherani, a consultant in paediatric otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at Al Jalila.
Dr Ibrar Majid, medical director at Al Jalila Children's Specialty Hospital, said parents should keep a particularly close eye on children under the age of six.
“A child who has swallowed a foreign object should be taken immediately to a specialist for treatment as aerodigestive disorders are generally complex and require a multidisciplinary approach to their management,” he said.
In 2019, doctors at Sheikh Khalifa Medical City in Abu Dhabi told The National that, on average, they see 15 cases a month in which children swallowed foreign bodies – the bulk of which are dirham coins.
The hospital said 258 children were admitted in an 18-month period between 2016 and 2018 after swallowing small objects, the majority involving children aged two to four.
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
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- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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Ads on social media can 'normalise' drugs
A UK report on youth social media habits commissioned by advocacy group Volteface found a quarter of young people were exposed to illegal drug dealers on social media.
The poll of 2,006 people aged 16-24 assessed their exposure to drug dealers online in a nationally representative survey.
Of those admitting to seeing drugs for sale online, 56 per cent saw them advertised on Snapchat, 55 per cent on Instagram and 47 per cent on Facebook.
Cannabis was the drug most pushed by online dealers, with 63 per cent of survey respondents claiming to have seen adverts on social media for the drug, followed by cocaine (26 per cent) and MDMA/ecstasy, with 24 per cent of people.
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Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
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Know before you go
- Jebel Akhdar is a two-hour drive from Muscat airport or a six-hour drive from Dubai. It’s impossible to visit by car unless you have a 4x4. Phone ahead to the hotel to arrange a transfer.
- If you’re driving, make sure your insurance covers Oman.
- By air: Budget airlines Air Arabia, Flydubai and SalamAir offer direct routes to Muscat from the UAE.
- Tourists from the Emirates (UAE nationals not included) must apply for an Omani visa online before arrival at evisa.rop.gov.om. The process typically takes several days.
- Flash floods are probable due to the terrain and a lack of drainage. Always check the weather before venturing into any canyons or other remote areas and identify a plan of escape that includes high ground, shelter and parking where your car won’t be overtaken by sudden downpours.
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The World Health Organisation estimates it affects about 30 million people each year and that about six million die.
Of those about three million are newborns and 1.2 are young children.
Patients with septic shock must often have limbs amputated if clots in their limbs prevent blood flow, causing the limbs to die.
Campaigners say the condition is often diagnosed far too late by medical professionals and that many patients wait too long to seek treatment, confusing the symptoms with flu.
German intelligence warnings
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- 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
- 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250
Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution
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In the UAE’s arid climate, small shrubs, bushes and flower beds usually require about six litres of water per square metre, daily. That increases to 12 litres per square metre a day for small trees, and 300 litres for palm trees.
Horticulturists suggest the best time for watering is before 8am or after 6pm, when water won't be dried up by the sun.
A global report published by the Water Resources Institute in August, ranked the UAE 10th out of 164 nations where water supplies are most stretched.
The Emirates is the world’s third largest per capita water consumer after the US and Canada.
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Recycle Reuse Repurpose
New central waste facility on site at expo Dubai South area to handle estimated 173 tonne of waste generated daily by millions of visitors
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Aim is for 85 per cent of waste from the site to be diverted from landfill
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Dubai Rugby Sevens
Winners: Dubai Hurricanes
Runners up: Bahrain
West Asia Premiership
Winners: Bahrain
Runners up: UAE Premiership
UAE Premiership
}Winners: Dubai Exiles
Runners up: Dubai Hurricanes
UAE Division One
Winners: Abu Dhabi Saracens
Runners up: Dubai Hurricanes II
UAE Division Two
Winners: Barrelhouse
Runners up: RAK Rugby
