Warning after toddler suffers serious burn caused by reaction to lime

Parents are being warned about letting children have some citrus fruits after a toddler suffered a ‘margarita burn’.

Parents are being warned to be careful about letting their children play with citrus fruits after an Australian toddler suffered a bad reaction to a lime.

Tiny Hearts Education, a company that provides first-aid training, shared the warning on Instagram to remind parents of an unusual injury called “margarita burn”.

“This nasty burn was caused by a lime,” the post states.

The education service warned an Australian toddler named Otis was having sensory time in an inflatable backyard pool in the sun, where he was playing with a lime from his parents’ lime tree in the garden.

Everything was fine until a day later when Otis’ mum says noticed a rash had developed on the boy’s skin.

An urgent warning has been issued to parents after a toddler was burned by a lime when playing in a backyard pool. Credit: Instagram/ Tiny Hearts

“What we thought was an allergic reaction to a juice he had that morning was actually the start of a not-widely-known reaction called a ‘Margarita burn’ (also known as phytophotodermatitis),” she said in the post.

The term is a burn that can result when a chemical called furocoumarin, which is found in citrus fruits, reacts with sunlight.

Otis’ mum stated there were “no real answers” to why her son had developed the rash at first before he was rushed to emergency department after his condition worsened.

“It wasn’t until Sunday afternoon when the rash started to blister, that I started doing more of my own research and was able to put two and two together,” she said.

An urgent warning has been issued to parents after a toddler was burned by a lime when playing in a backyard pool. Credit: Instagram/ Tiny Hearts

“The small lime he had been innocently playing with on Friday had now burnt his skin horrifically!”

“We now have ongoing appointments with our local paediatric burns team for ongoing management to ensure no long-term scarring and implications,” the mum said.

The post went onto further explain that UV rays from the sun can activate the furocoumarin chemical, which is a chemical that can be found on plant surfaces.

“Remember not everyone will experience phytophotodermatitis after exposure to furocoumarin,” Tiny Hearts Education wrote.

“Your little one may be at a greater risk if you have a history of contact dermatitis with other substances, such as metals and cleaning agents.