PONE-D-21-32551Poisoning Among Children in Malaysia: A 10-Year ReviewPLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Iqdam Alwan

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Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer #1:

Title of the study is “Poisoning Among Children in Malaysia: A 10-Year Review”. Out of the five key words three are a repeat from the title. It is suggested to authors to replace these three repeated keywords, to increase the searchability of the article over internet, if published. The keywords should preferably from the MeSH Vocabulary database.The introduction part should be combined in form of two or three paragraphs. The vancouver style should be used for references.

The manuscript requires the following grammatical corrections:

Line 37-38:

“Poisoning commonly occurs among children as a consequence of their curiosity, where they have a tendency to explore and investigate their surroundings.” Should be replaced by “Poisoning commonly occurs among children due to their curiosity, where they tend to explore and investigate their surroundings.”

Line 76-78:

“Based on statistics by the World Health Organization (WHO), acute poisoning is responsible for more than 45,000 deaths every year among children and youths below the age of 20 years” should be replaced by “Based on the World Health Organization (WHO) statistics, acute poisoning is responsible for more than 45,000 deaths every year among children and youths below the age of 20 years.”

Line 91:

Remove comma after Although

Line 96-100:

Replace “DPIS is the main source of information on poisoning risks and toxicity, and it serves healthcare professionals and the general populace with the relevant information when they enquire about such matters. The NPC operates 24/7, whereby pharmacists, who are trained in toxicology and who specialize in providing drug and poison information services, offer advice to enquirers, usually via telephone calls.”

With

“DPIS is the main source of information on poisoning risks and toxicity. It serves healthcare professionals and the general populace with the relevant information when they inquire about such matters. The NPC operates 24/7, whereby pharmacists, trained in toxicology and specialize in providing drug and poison information services, offer advice to enquirers, usually via telephone calls.”

Line 131:

Replace “Ethic” with “Ethics”

Line 144:

Replace “increased constantly” with “constantly increased”

Line 252:

Remove “in nature”

Line 256:

‘This’ is an unclear antecedent. Please rectify.

Line 323-325:

Replace “Appropriate strategies and legislations should be implemented to regulate the sale of over-the-counter medications and to ensure that potentially dangerous chemicals are sold in child-resistant containers.” with “Appropriate strategies and legislation should be implemented to regulate the sale of over-the-counter medications and ensure that potentially dangerous chemicals are sold in child-resistant containers.”

Reviewer #2: This study aimed to retrospectively analyze the demographic data, types and manner of acute poisoning among children based on telephonic inquiries at NPC. The sample size for studying the profile of acute poisoning in children is adequate. However, the manuscript requires clarifications and a few revisions, as mentioned below.· Title can be changed to Poisoning Among Children in Malaysia: A 10-years retrospective study.· The standard definition of 'child' given by WHO or UNESCO should be included. In the abstract, you have mentioned the inclusion of samples of age 19 years and below, whereas, in the methodology of the manuscript, you have mentioned the samples of age 18 years and below. Please clarify the disparity.· Also, you have subdivided the age groups as below 6 years, 6 to 12 years and above 12 years. Table 1 has categories of 0 to 5 years, 6 to 12 years and 13 to 18 years. Please maintain uniformity. Also, clarify the reason to subdivide the age group into these three categories.· Table 1 can be subdivided into more tables as extensive information has been clustered, which is confusing.· In table number 1, 'character' can be replaced by ‘the number of cases’; 'Incident type' can be replaced by 'the manner of poisoning'.

· In table number 1, the other category in route of exposure should be subdivided in the table only.· Please specify the reasons for gender remaining unknown in about 2000 cases.· Legal scenarios in Malaysia pertaining to various poisoning agents and therapeutic agents can be discussed. The statistical analysis should have been performed appropriately and rigorously.

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Poisoning Among Children in Malaysia: A 10-years retrospective study

PONE-D-21-32551R1

Dear Dr. Iqdam Abdulmaged Alwan

We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements.

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Kind regards,

Shailja Sharma, MD Biochemistry

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

Reviewers' comments: