Accidental poisonings from bleach and disinfectants more than doubled in April — the same month Trump suggested they could be injected

• The number of reported accidental poisonings were nearly their typical averages in March and were more than double their averages in April, according to a report from the American Association of Poison Control Centers.
• Reported accidental poisonings have increased every month since the novel coronavirus was first reported in the US in January.
• President Donald Trump suggested at an April 23 press briefing that disinfectants could be injected into the body to fight COVID-19.
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Accidental poisonings in the US were nearly double their average numbers in March and more than double in April of this year amid nationwide stay-at-home orders and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report from the American Association of Poison Control Centers (AAPCC).

In the month of March, 3,401 Americans reported cases of accidental poisonings from household disinfectants. The number was even higher in April with 3,609 reported accidental poisonings, according to the data first reported by Time. The number typically falls somewhere between 1,600-1,700 in one month, according to the report.

Business Insider previously reported that data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in April found that poison control centers reported a 20% spike in calls related to cleaners and disinfectants in January of this year — the month the novel coronavirus was first reported in the US.

According to the newest report, the majority of cases reported involving the inhalation of fumes, though there were also reported cases involving ingestion cases.

The president drew significant backlash for his comments on April 23 that suggested that "disinfectant" could perhaps be used in injections to human bodies in order to fight the novel coronavirus.

"And I then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in one minute, and is there a way you can do something like that by injection inside, or almost a cleaning," Trump said at a White House coronavirus press briefing. "Because you see it gets in the lungs, and it does a tremendous number on the lungs. So it'd be interesting to check that."

While reported accidental poisonings were up 5% in January, 17% in February, and 93% in March compared to last year, the number of reported poisonings was more than double the typical average — 121% — in April, which included the eight days that followed Trump's comments about disinfectants.

According to the AAPCC report, which used data from the National Poison Data System, there were 18,788 bleach-exposure cases reported to US Poison Control Centers from January through May 10. That's a year-over-year increase of 38%, the report said.

There was a far higher increase — 62% — of reported accidental exposures to disinfectants in the same time period, according to AAPCC.

Calls to poison control centers in several states also reported seeing a spike following Trump's comments, though the president's said he couldn't "imagine why" centers would have seen an increase after his comments that he later said were sarcastic.

Following the president's remarks, several disinfectant companies, including Lysol and Clorox, issued warnings to remind customers that their products were meant to kill germs and viruses on surfaces, but were not meant to be ingested.