Excessive intake of caffeine was considered as the cause of death of a 3-year-old girl in Bacolod City earlier this month.
Jesryl Barrido was reported as she suffered cardiac arrhythmia possibly due to caffeine toxicity as the girl’s cause of death.
The girl suffered irregular heartbeat which is attributed by her condition.
The girl’s mother, Jennifer Rose Barrido, said her child was feeling fine however, she admitted that the girl would sip from her and her father’s coffee cups when they weren’t looking.
“We don’t let her drink coffee but there are times when she sips from our cup when we are not looking. It was last December when her hands started shaking,” she said.
However, Dr. Grace Tan of the Bacolod City health office said they cannot connect caffeine overdose to the death of the child as the parents decline to have the body autopsied.
But as to parent’s statement, the office indicated caffeine toxicity as the possible cause of death.
“…We do not have a definite diagnosis so we just consider and highly consider this [caffeine toxicity] possibility,” Tan said.
The doctor reminded parents not to allow children to drink coffee considering that their bodies are not yet ready to tolerate the effects of caffeine which is a stimulant.
H/T: ABS-CBN News