HJAR Mar/Apr 2024

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS I  MAR / APR 2024 47 Jennifer Dillaha, MD Director Arkansas Department of Health nausea, and other gastrointestinal symptoms. • Anemia — normochromic or mi- crocytic, possibly with basophilic stippling. • Central nervous system effects, such as headache, impaired visual- motor coordination, tremor, and, in severe cases, seizure, encephalopa- thy, and coma. • Stunted growth, hearing problems, impaired neurobehavioral develop- ment, decreased intelligence, and failure to meet expected develop- mental milestones. • Impaired kidney function, such as acute tubular dysfunction. • Get a detailed exposure history for pa- tients with suspected lead exposure, in- cluding those who consumed a recalled product. • Obtain early consultation with or pro- vide a referral to a medical toxicologist or pediatric specialist with expertise in managing lead exposure for medical workups and managing patients with high blood lead levels. Contact your lo- cal poison center through (800) 222- 1222 for advice on diagnosing andman- aging lead toxicity. • Please notify theADH of cases concern- ing reported blood lead levels of: • 3.5 micrograms per deciliter or greater in patients up to age 72 months. • 10 micrograms per deciliter or greater in patients aged 73 months or older. Visit www.healthy.arkansas.gov to learn more, or contact the ADH Lead- Based Paint Program at (501) 671-1472 or adh.lbp@arkansas.gov . Youmay sign up for the ADH’s Health Alert Network (HAN) at https://hanregistration.adh.arkansas.gov/ HanRegistration/Add-HanRegistration. aspx. n that consumers carefully open the pouches and empty the contents into a trash can be- fore throwing away the package to prevent others from salvaging the recalled product from the trash. Consumers should also clean up any spills after discarding the product and then wash their hands. Anyone who ate the recalled products should contact their healthcare provider. Signs and symptoms of lead toxicity vary, although most children have no obvious immediate symptoms. Lead poisoning can only be diagnosed through clinical testing. TheADH has the following recommenda- tions for healthcare providers: • Counsel patients and their caregiv- ers not to eat the specific cinnamon- containing apple puree or applesauce products named in the FDA recall announcement. • Be familiar with the CDC’s testing rec- ommendations for lead, indications for confirmatory testing, and recom- mended actions based on blood lead levels. This information can be found by visiting https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/ lead/default.htm. • Test children who ate the recalled prod- uct for lead exposure. • Consider lead exposure in the differen- tial diagnosis of adults presenting with compatible clinical findings associated with lead poisoning, whichmay include the following signs and symptoms: • Constitutional symptoms such as generalized weakness, fatigue, malaise, arthralgias, myalgias, ir- ritability, anorexia, insomnia, and weight loss. • Abdominal pain, constipation,