One person died, four people went to the emergency room after eating at a wedding party

On July 23, the Poison Control Center, Bach Mai Hospital (Hanoi) received emergency treatment for 4 cases of methanol poisoning after drinking alcohol at a wedding in Thuong Tin district, Hanoi.

According to the patient, on July 21, 5 people drank alcohol together for 2-3 consecutive meals, the origin of the alcohol is unknown and they drank the most in the evening. Afterwards, this group of people showed signs of fatigue, dizziness, nausea, trembling limbs, some people had difficulty breathing, and were lethargic. After that, one person died, the remaining 4 were taken to Bach Mai Hospital.

According to Dr. Nguyen Trung Nguyen, Director of the Poison Control Center, Bach Mai Hospital, 4 patients were hospitalized with methanol poisoning, symptoms of headache, blurred vision, severe metabolic acidosis, high blood methanol concentration, and risk of brain damage.

Test results of the alcohol samples the patients drank at the wedding showed that the concentration of industrial alcohol methanol was 34%. With regular alcohol, the concentration of ethanol is only 14%.

Dr. Nguyen said that methanol is an alcohol used in the industrial sector, when it enters the body it will cause damage, especially to the optic nerve and brain. Many patients are subjective with the signs, when they go to the hospital late, their eyes may be completely blind, nerve damage leading to death. If the patient survives, the consequences are also very severe.

Doctor Nguyen is concerned that the number of people with alcohol poisoning may be higher because there were many guests at the wedding and they may not have shown symptoms yet.

The Poison Control Center has received many cases with no signs of poisoning but very high levels of methanol in the blood. If left untreated, these people will quickly suffer from vision loss and brain damage.

On the morning of July 24, the Poison Control Center received another male patient (49 years old) with methanol poisoning after 3 consecutive days of drinking alcohol. When admitted to the hospital, this man was in a coma. Currently, the male patient is on a ventilator, has severe metabolic acidosis, and high methanol levels in his blood. Doctor Nguyen suspects that the alcohol the patient drank was from the same source as the 4 patients mentioned above.