Warning of alcohol poisoning of unknown origin

Alcohol poisoning patient treated at Dong Nai General Hospital

Most of the cases were hospitalized in a deep coma, with many deaths. This raises the alarm about the consequences of alcohol abuse or using alcohol of unknown origin.

At Dong Nai General Hospital, in just one week, the hospital received and treated 4 cases of severe alcohol poisoning. Of these, 3 cases were sent home by their families to prepare for the funeral, and one patient was discharged but left with a sequela of reduced vision.

Mr. LTL (residing in Tam Hiep ward, Bien Hoa city), a relative of a patient with alcohol poisoning, said that before that, his brother and some friends had eaten together and drank alcohol of unknown origin. After that, about 2 days later, his brother showed signs of vomiting all night and gradually became weak. By the time he was discovered and taken to the emergency room, he was in a deep coma. After being admitted to the emergency room, doctors put him on a ventilator and blood filtration for many days, but his condition did not improve.

Because my brother is a freelancer and does not have health insurance, the family spent nearly 70 million VND in the first 5 days of hospitalization. Due to the huge cost, the family asked the hospital to take my brother home.

Doctor Dao Nguyen Minh Chau, Head of the Intensive Care and Anti-Poison Department, Dong Nai General Hospital, said that recently, the hospital has frequently received poisoning cases, especially methanol poisoning, also known as industrial alcohol. This is one of four cases the hospital received last week. The patients were admitted to the hospital in a coma, and test results showed that the methanol concentration in the blood was over 100 mg/100ml. All four patients were treated intensively and had to be put on a ventilator and have continuous blood filtration. After treatment, only one case recovered and was discharged from the hospital, but left with a sequela of reduced vision. The remaining three cases had to stop treatment due to the high cost of treatment and the family asked to take the patients home.

According to Dr. Dao Nguyen Minh Chau, the cost of treating alcohol poisoning cases is often very high, because it requires high-level techniques such as blood filtration, kidney filtration... (on average, a blood filtration cycle costs over 50 million VND). Furthermore, most cases of alcohol poisoning admitted to the hospital do not have health insurance, so the cost of treatment is very high. In many cases, families cannot afford to pay, so they proactively ask for the patient to go home.

According to doctors, in cases of alcohol poisoning, the common symptom is coma, similar to drunkenness. However, with alcohol poisoning, the patient will be in a deeper coma and for a longer period of time. When the family sees that the patient is not conscious, they take him to the emergency room, but by then, the patient is already in a deep coma and it is too late.

Excessive use of alcohol from beer and wine causes users to suffer from liver-related diseases, mental disorders, behavioral disorders, nervous system degeneration, poisoning, stomach diseases, cardiovascular diseases... Just drinking about 0.3 liters of beer or 100ml of wine also affects the nervous system, especially the brain, causing narrowed vision and slower reaction time.

Therefore, doctors recommend that people limit their exposure to alcohol, beer, and alcoholic beverages. In cases where people are frequently exposed to alcohol, they should use products with clear origins and sources. They should not buy cheap, floating products on the market to limit the worst possible situations.

According to VNA