Alarm poisoning from forest leaves

According to statistics of the General Hospital of Hoa Binh province, from the beginning of the year, there have been about 30 patients poisoning by eating forest leaves. Three patients died from hospitalization when it was too late.

Eat leaves by habit

Most recently, on June 20, 2006, the Department of Emergency Medicine, Hoa Binh Hospital received four patients: Bui Duy Phan - 21 years old, Dao Manh Chung - 33 years old, Bui Van Phuc - 29 years old, Bui Van Khuyen - 41 years old. They are both workers in Song Da Forest Enterprise who are poisoned by forest leaves. Due to the delay, victim Bui Duy Phan died on his way to the hospital.

(Artwork: truk) Mr. Nguyen Van Hung - Deputy Director of Song Da Forest Enterprise said: The Forestry Enterprise sent 4 people to Mang stream, Thung Nai commune (Cao Phong) to protect the forest. The labor process here four workers have boiled water with forest trees. After drinking for about 20 minutes, all 4 people found their bodies to show abnormalities: tiredness, chest tightness .

Bui Thi Vuong in Late Ha commune has four children: Bui Van Thong - 15 years old, Bui Van Thich - 11 years old, Bui Van Tinh 6 years old and Bui Van Tan - 2 years old have to go to emergency for poisoning tourist leaves. . Up to now, even though the family members have gone through a critical crisis, the fear has not dissipated. Ms. Vuong expressed her regret, she herself did not expect that the leaves were like tobacco tobacco leaves, with a bitter, soothing taste that nearly robbed the life of her youngest 2-year-old son while she and her 3 older children were also difficult If you are not sent to the hospital in time, you will be excused. The reason is that she used travel leaves mixed with dog dishes to improve meals. Listening to many people in the hamlet saying that using the leaves for tourism to grow dogs is more delicious, she followed suit.

Dr. Do Dinh Van - Deputy Head of Emergency Medicine Department of the provincial hospital said that in many provinces in the province, especially in remote areas, people still prefer to use some types of forest leaves to make leaves. eat, mix with food or drink water. In which, the leaves of tourism trees are the most used leaves in dog dishes in Luong Son and Kim Boi districts .

In the face of many people being poisoned, the Academy of Criminal Science last year organized a study in two districts of Luong Son and Kim Boi. They found that many people here lacked an enzyme called the G6PD, which led to poor durability of red blood cells. When eating leaves, it is easy to break down red blood cells, patients have symptoms of black urination, kidney failure, liver failure, and hemolysis. There are patients upon admission, the amount of red blood cells is only 70,000 - 80,000 while the normal body has millions of red blood cells so it is very difficult to save.

Difficult to cure

According to Dr. Van, the most difficult thing in dealing with these poisoning cases is the determination of toxic substances, so it cannot find antagonists. Currently, the northern health sector has not enough potential to equip toxic equipment because its price is extremely expensive (VND 200-300 billion). A few difficult cases have to rely on the Institute of Criminal Science - Ministry of Public Security to determine.

Treatment for patients poisoning forest leaves according to symptoms is still the only cure in the provincial hospital. When poisoned, patients often suffer from disorders of the cardiovascular, respiratory, neurological system, convulsions . Based on that manifestation, doctors use vasomotor, neurological emergency, cont. It is to bring water into the body to discharge the poison. Normally, patients have to stay in the hospital for at least 1 week to recover, along with a series of treatment costs that patients with severe circumstances will be hard to afford. Only for the cost of testing, infusion and support medicine, it cost millions.

For severe cases, costing up to tens of millions of VND for people in remote areas is extremely difficult, just like bringing the whole family into debt and inundation. There was a case of a patient in the heart of the lake in Da Bac district escaping from the hospital due to the inability to pay hospital fees.

The victims who were hospitalized for eating poisonous leaves were hospitalized only a very small number compared to reality. Because, patients with prolonged manifestations, serious illness to seek medical doctors, there are many other cases of mild poisoning such as hypertension, digestive disorders, the main treatment at home.

According to some experienced people, the same kind of strange leaves, people can eat this time okay but other times poisoning.

Please once again recommend that local people should be cautious when using exotic leaves in their daily activities. For the health sector and authorities, it is necessary to promote propaganda in the locality to help ethnic people understand the unpredictable harm of using strange leaves. Commune health stations and village health workers pay more attention to detection, and quickly transfer patients to the hospital for early treatment.