20-month-old baby almost died because mother arbitrarily picked forest leaves to treat illness

(Baonghean.vn) – Tan Ky General Hospital has just received and successfully treated a child patient, Truong Quoc Cuong (20 months old), residing in Ke Thai hamlet, Giai Xuan commune, Tan Ky district, who was poisoned by the leaves of the Indian laurel tree.

According to information from Ms. Nguyen Thi Than (1992), Cuong's mother, on June 30, 2016, seeing that her son had been constipated for a long time and could not defecate, she picked up the leaves of the Indian laurel tree to make medicine for Cuong to drink 3 spoons. After drinking, he was able to defecate (6 times/day) and had mucus, yellow foam in his stool, his health was still normal.

However, on July 1, 2016, Cuong showed signs of vomiting many times, fatigue, high fever, and inability to eat or drink. His family took him to the emergency room at Tan Ky District Hospital in a coma, with pale mucous membranes (due to hemolysis causing excessive blood loss), respiratory failure, red urine, circulatory collapse, and risk of kidney failure.

Doctor at Tan Ky General Hospital examines patient Truong Quoc Cuong.

After being given emergency oxygen, electrolyte replacement, 250 ml of blood transfusion, and antibiotics to prevent secondary infection, Cuong has overcome the critical stage, but his health condition is still complicated and needs to be monitored and treated actively.

In particular, in the case of Cuong, who showed signs of slow motor development, physical weakness (he weighed only 6 kg), and poor health, the treatment process will be longer than previous cases of poisoning from Indian laurel leaves that were treated at the department.

Doctor Pham Xuan Dung - Emergency Resuscitation Doctor, Tan Ky General Hospital recommends that parents with young children (especially in mountainous areas, remote areas) need to understand and raise awareness about the problem of poisoning due to the leaves of the Indian laurel tree. This is a very poisonous leaf and can cause rapid death if eaten in large quantities. People should not use it to treat intestinal diseases according to folk experience (also known as folk remedies) for children with long-term constipation, endangering their lives.

It is known that this is not the first case of poisoning from the leaves of the Indian laurel tree that has been treated at Tan Ky General Hospital, but this is the youngest patient to be successfully saved by the medical team here.

Image of the money tree. Source: internet. Rau moi is also known as loc mai, luc mai, moi trang, and bo nét. It is a small plant with many small, easily broken branches. The leaves are simple, varied, alternately arranged, oval or elongated lanceolate, with a round base and pointed tip, smooth on both sides, serrated edges, with two small nodes at the junction with the leaf blade, small, hairy stipules. Young leaves are pink-red. The inflorescence grows in the leaf axils into unisexual flowers. The tree often grows wild in mountainous, midland and plain areas, scattered at the foot of hills, along fields, along roads or on old fields due to barren land abandoned for a long time.

Phuong Hao