The Ministry of Health guides the procedure for early importation of drugs to save botulinum poisoning patients

May 21 afternoon, talk with Youth Online, A representative of the Drug Administration of Vietnam (Ministry of Health) said that as soon as it received information that Cho Ray Hospital ran out of botulinum antidote, the department instructed the procedures to quickly import the drug˳

Quick procedure to import botulinum antidote

Also according to the Drug Administration, this is a very rare drug˳ Because there are only a few cases in the country each year, hospitals do not have enough reserves˳

“The supply of botulinum toxin is still available, hospitals will contact to order˳ The Department has also contacted the World Health Organization (WHO) in the event that the drug cannot be purchased, will ask for support from WHO˳” , representative of the Drug Administration of Information˳

In addition, the Drug Administration of Vietnam is also developing a mechanism for storing and sharing rare drugs for use in emergency situations˳

Previously, on May 16, the last two bottles of BAT antidote were shipped from Quang Nam to save the lives of three brothers who were poisoned by eating sausages from street vendors, at Children’s Hospital 2 (Ho Chi Minh City)˳ Ho Chi Minh City)˳

Meanwhile, three new botulinum poisoning patients being treated at Cho Ray Hospital and Gia Dinh People’s Hospital had to be assisted with mechanical ventilation because there was no longer an antidote˳

How to process food to avoid botulinum poisoning?

Dr˳ Le Quoc Hung – Head of Tropical Diseases Department of Cho Ray Hospital (HCMC) – said that the cause of botulinum poisoning is botulinum bacteria˳

This type of bacteria lives in an anaerobic environment (an environment without air, very low oxygen concentration)˳ In a normal environment, this bacteria cannot survive due to the high oxygen content˳

When not living in a normal environment, bacteria will adapt by creating spores (envelopes to hibernate), at which time they are inactive and do not die˳

“This botulinum bacteria is everywhere around us, especially in sandy soils˳ In addition, there are human activities that cause this bacteria to be released from the ground to float into the air˳

However, when placed in an airless environment, it will reactivate˳ The reactivation will break the sporangium to produce a toxin called botulinum toxin, “said Dr˳ Hung˳

According to Dr˳ Hung, all foods when processed by packaging, canned and sealed, without oxygen, bacteria can grow˳ Thus, the possibility of botulinum toxin infection is always lurking˳

Therefore, here are the steps to prevent botulinum poisoning when processing fresh food˳

First stage: When buying food for the home processor or the processor making bottled foods, it must be done in a clean environment at the first time˳

Process in areas that are regularly cleaned, cleaned regularly to avoid dust, dirt and sand, and have very clean food preparation areas to avoid botulinum contamination˳

Second stage: When sealed, it will provide an anaerobic environment for bacteria to grow, so we should not close it without good technique˳

Manufacturers pack due to irradiation of sterilization rays to make food safe˳

And at home it is done very unsafely˳ Another measure that can be avoided is to use acidity or salinity above 5%, 5% salt per 100 grams of food˳ In an environment that is too salty, bacteria cannot grow˳

The third stage: The stage of using food, must see the expiration date˳ For manufacturers there are expiry dates that guarantee that period of time without bacteria growth˳ Therefore, never eat anything past its expiry date˳

“If we see that stuff is puffy, deformed, no longer has a natural taste, then we should not eat it, even though it is still within the expiry date˳

As for some other foods we can use by cooking, cooking at 100 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes will limit the problem of destroying this botulinum toxin, not 100% guaranteed, but greatly reduced˳ many problems with poisoning,” said Dr˳ Hung˳

Eating fried spring rolls, three brothers in Ho Chi Minh City got botulinum poisoning

After eating fried spring rolls of unknown origin, three brothers in Ho Chi Minh City were poisoned with botulinum˳