6 bottles of rare medicine to treat Botulinum poisoning donated by WHO have arrived in Vietnam

(HNMO) - On the evening of May 24, 6 vials of Botulinum Antitoxin Heptavalent sent from the World Health Organization (WHO) warehouse in Switzerland arrived in Ho Chi Minh City in time to treat patients with Botulinum poisoning.

Previously, as reported by Hanoi Moi Newspaper, regarding the cases of Botulinum poisoning being treated in Ho Chi Minh City after eating street-sold pork rolls, upon receiving the report from the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health on May 21, the Drug Administration Department contacted WHO to assist in resolving the matter.

On the afternoon of May 23, Minister of Health Dao Thi Hong Lan had a direct working session with the WHO Office in Hanoi. Immediately after that, WHO decided to provide emergency aid of Botulinum Antitoxin Heptavalent to patients being treated at hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City.

Children with Botulinum poisoning are being treated at Cho Ray Hospital.

With the efforts of the Drug Administration of Vietnam (Ministry of Health), the Vietnamese authorities and the timely support of WHO, 6 vials of Botulinum Antitoxin Heptavalent arrived in Ho Chi Minh City at 7:00 p.m. on May 24, promptly treating patients with Botulinum poisoning. This is truly good news for patients who have been in hospitals for the past few days, waiting for the medicine every day.

According to the Ministry of Health, Botulinum poisoning is poisoning caused by infection with the bacterial toxin Clostridium botulinum. This poisoning is very rare in Vietnam and around the world. The main cause is that the patient is infected with bacterial toxins in poor quality food, eating poorly preserved food. From 2020 to now, there have been a few cases per year, recently there were 3 cases in Ho Chi Minh City.

Because this disease is very rare, the supply of medicine to treat this disease (BAT) in the world is also very rare. Therefore, this is a medicine that is not easy to proactively supply. In addition, the price of this medicine is also very high. BAT is not currently on the list of medicines covered by insurance. The Ministry of Health also recommends that people should be very careful, not to preserve and use food that has been processed for a long time, to ensure food safety, to avoid the risk of poisoning in general, and Botulinum poisoning in particular.

Source: https://beta.hanoimoi.com.vn/6-lo-thuoc-hiem-dieu-tri-ngo-doc-botulinum-do-who-vien-tro-da-ve-den-viet-nam-442520.html