Patients with botulinum poisoning will be given BAT to detoxify. However, this medicine is currently out of stock in Vietnam. The last 5 vials of BAT antidote were used by Cho Ray Hospital to save 3 vials of patients poisoned by pickled carp at the Northern Mountainous Region General Hospital of Quang Nam and 2 vials to save 3 children poisoned by botulinum due to eating pork roll recently.
According to Dr. Le Quoc Hung, Head of the Department of Tropical Diseases at Cho Ray Hospital, the lack of specific antidote BAT due to botulinum poisoning is a very unfortunate problem for patients and also a difficult problem for treating doctors. In a case of botulinum poisoning, if the specific antidote BAT is used early, within 48 to 72 hours, the patient can escape the state of paralysis, and will not have to be put on a ventilator.
Botulism Antitoxin Heptavalent (BAT) helps fight toxins from Clostridium Botulinum bacteria
Or if starting mechanical ventilation 1-2 days, that is very soon after botulism poisoning, using BAT, then from 5 to 7 days, the patient can recover and can be removed from the ventilator, do physical therapy to return to normal life.
"However, in the absence of an antidote for BAT, we must provide supportive treatment. Supportive treatment is mainly nutrition and mechanical ventilation, because botulinum toxin damages the nervous system, leading to muscle paralysis. When our muscles are paralyzed, we cannot breathe. The duration of mechanical ventilation can last an average of 3-6 months," Dr. Hung analyzed.
Dr. Hung added: "Normally we have a natural airway as a protective barrier for the lungs, but when a tube is placed directly into the lungs through a ventilator, the natural protection is broken. From there, the possibility of secondary infection is very high."
On May 20, information from Cho Ray Hospital said that this unit, along with Gia Dinh People's Hospital and the Hospital for Tropical Diseases (HCMC), consulted and discovered 3 more cases of suspected botulinum poisoning. All 3 patients are from Thu Duc City (HCMC), including 2 brothers aged 18 and 26, the remaining person is a 45-year-old man.
Taking the medical history, the two brothers had previously eaten bread with pork sausage, the man had eaten fish sauce that had been left for a long time. Test results from Gia Dinh People's Hospital showed that the patients were poisoned by botulinum from food. However, the antidote for BAT has been exhausted, so the current treatment plan for the three patients is mainly supportive, including nutrition and mechanical ventilation.
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