[News Today] Baby swallows 33 magnetic beads

[LEAD]
Swallowing foreign objects is a frequent hazard for infants and toddlers. In a recent case, a baby not yet two years old swallowed over 30 magnetic beads and was rushed to a hospital
for emergency surgery.

[REPORT]
These are X-ray images of a 23-month-old baby's stomach.

Round objects about 5 millimeters in diameter are seen in the form of a circle or a long strip.

The objects are magnetic beads the toddler had swallowed.

The baby's parent immediately took him to a hospital when he started gasping for air while holding magnets in his hand.

The doctors performed emergency surgery since the magnetic beads clumped together could have very likely perforated the baby's organs.

Prof. Yeon Hee-jin/ Konyang Univ. Hospital
The magnetic properties could cause inflammation, perforation, or a bypass, resulting in a stomachache or blood poisoning.

The doctors took out 33 toy magnetic beads from the baby's stomach.

It is easy to swallow not only magnets, but also button cells or small toys.

It could be fatal for children since foreign objects can puncture the intestines or block the airway.

Prof. Han Sun-ah/ Mokwon University
It's important to keep small objects out of children's reach. They should also be constantly taught not to put things other than food in their mouths.

Over the past five years, around 2,000 accidents involving children younger than 14 swallowing
foreign objects occurred annually. That comes to an average of five cases per day.

More than half of the cases occurred to infants and toddlers between the ages of one and three.