Poisoning from eating grilled toad meat, 3 brothers had to be hospitalized

Previously, on the afternoon of May 3, 3 children including Tran Minh A (born 2013); Tran Van Ng (born 2013) and Tran Thi Anh Ng (born 2014) who are siblings in a family in Nghia Thai commune, Tan Ky district kidnapped and played with the fish and then grilled it to eat. At 5:30 p.m. the same day, the family discovered the incident. The mother of the 3 children induced vomiting and immediately took them to the hospital for examination.

Many parts of the toad contain toxins. Illustration photo

According to medical documents, many parts of the toad contain toxins, of which the dangerous and deadly toxin is tetrodotoxin. This toxin is found in the skin, liver, eggs, pus, and eyes of the toad. In addition, the nerve ganglia (along the two spines) of the toad also contain bufotenin - an extremely toxic substance that can easily cause death (even when cooked at high temperatures, this toxin does not decompose, and when eaten, causes severe poisoning).

Toad poisoning, depending on the severity, can cause fatigue, nausea, vomiting, pain in the limbs, and more seriously, heart rhythm disturbances, low blood pressure, panic, leading to hallucinations, convulsions, respiratory and cardiac arrest if not treated promptly.

Toad meat is a nutritious food containing lots of protein, zinc, vitamins... However, if you do not know how to prepare it, the risk of poisoning and death is very high. Therefore, it is best to remove toad meat from the family's food list. If you accidentally get toad mucus on your hands, eyes, mouth..., you should quickly wash the contact area many times with clean water.

When encountering someone poisoned by toad meat, quickly take the patient to the nearest medical facility for emergency care and timely treatment.