Dr. Le Quoc Hung – Head of Tropical Diseases Department, Cho Ray Hospital said that currently 3 patients with botulinum poisoning are on ventilators, their muscle strength is only 0.5 – 1.5, which means they are paralyzed. completely.
Regarding the cluster of botulinum poisoning cases , on May 22, Dr. Le Quoc Hung – Head of the Department of Tropical Diseases, Cho Ray Hospital, said that 3 patients had to be on ventilators.
Specifically, botulinum poisoning patients being monitored include 2 siblings (26 years old and 18 years old) and a 45-year-old man (living in Thu Duc city). Among them, two siblings are treated at Cho Ray Hospital, the remaining one is at Gia Dinh People’s Hospital. These are cases of bolutinum poisoning that appeared right after a group of 3 young children were hospitalized for eating street-sold pork rolls.
According to Dr. Le Quoc Hung, currently 3 patients with botulinum poisoning are on ventilators, their muscle strength is only 0.5 – 1.5, which means they are completely paralyzed. Meanwhile, previously only 2 patients required mechanical ventilation and the remaining patients’ muscle strength was at 3/5 – 4/5.
According to Dr. Hung, the cause of the patient’s paralysis was botulinum toxin. If there is an antidote for BAT, it will have an anti-toxin effect, neutralize the poison and stop the disease from progressing. In the absence of an antidote, the toxin continues to attack the patient.
“Botulinum toxins attack the neuromuscular system, thereby causing neuromuscular transmission to no longer exist, making the muscles unable to control, leading to paralysis. If only the arms are paralyzed, Leg paralysis is not immediately life-threatening, but if respiratory muscle paralysis will lead to acute respiratory failure and death if we do not have supportive treatment,” said Dr. Le Quoc Hung.
Previously, as reported, Cho Ray Hospital, Gia Dinh People’s Hospital, and Hospital for Tropical Diseases (HCMC) consulted to discover 3 more cases of suspected botulinum poisoning, including 2 18-year-old siblings. 26 years old and 26 years old were poisoned by eating pork roll bread, the other person is a 45 year old male who ate fish sauce that had been left for a long time. Thu Duc city’s health department has verified the pork sausage production facility and taken samples for testing. This is a newly opened facility with no operating license yet.
Regarding this case, the Drug Administration of Vietnam, Ministry of Health said: ” Yesterday, May 21, we received information that Cho Ray Hospital (Ho Chi Minh City) is temporarily out of botulinum toxin antidote. Immediately after that, the Department contacted the importer, CPC1 Company, and learned that Cho Ray Hospital had discussed with the company about placing an order. The importer also contacted the foreign supplier. to carry out import procedures”.
To prevent the risk of Botulinum poisoning, Dr. Le Quoc Hung recommends that people, when processing bottled, jarred or sealed foods, need to clean the environment, clean and sanitize the area regularly. processed to avoid dirt, soil, sand and toxic bacteria from sticking to food. Food packaging should apply modern techniques. Manufacturers often use sterilization rays when packaging to keep food safe. People packing their own food at home pose a very high risk of unsafety. One measure that Dr. Hung believes that people should apply when packing and sealing food is to use a salinity level of over 5% salt/100g of food because in too salty an environment, bacteria cannot grow.
People should be careful not to use food that is past its expiration date, especially canned products that are bulging or deformed because these are products that have been attacked by botulinum bacteria or other bacteria; Or even if it is still within its expiration date and not deformed, when opened, it no longer has its natural flavor and should not be eaten. A typical case is the case of two children with Botulinum poisoning in Thu Duc city who ate pork rolls wrapped in plastic and began to show signs of watery and unusual taste. People can cook canned and sealed foods at high temperatures for 10-15 minutes to help reduce the risk of botulinum poisoning and other poisoning bacteria.
Stephan Breitenberg