7 people were poisoned by drinking wine soaked with belladonna

The Food Safety Department recommends that people do not drink alcohol of unknown origin, and should not soak alcohol with plants, animals, and parts of animals, insects, etc. to avoid poisoning.

After drinking alcohol at a housewarming party in Thai Binh, 7 people were poisoned and had to be transferred to the Poison Control Center, Bach Mai Hospital (Hanoi).

Dried fruit wine and white wine at a housewarming party poisoned seven people.

Dr. Lam Quoc Hung, Head of the Food Poisoning Management Department, Department of Food Safety (Ministry of Health), and also the head of the working group that went to Thai Binh to urge the investigation, supervision, and handling of the alcohol poisoning case, said that the cause of the 7 people's poisoning was due to a group of alkaloid toxins with typical clinical manifestations.

This toxicity affects the victim's sympathetic nervous system, causing increased heart rate, sweating, dilated pupils, dry lips, dry mouth, watery eyes, and drowsiness. If not promptly treated, the victim is at high risk of death.

This toxin is found in belladonna (solanum). Methanol tests on the wine that the 7 victims drank at the party were negative. The host, Mr. Vu Tien Hoi, also suffered from alcohol poisoning. After regaining consciousness due to timely emergency care, Mr. Hoi said that he had soaked the wine with a package of dried fruit bought in Lang Son, which in addition to hawthorn, also contained wild banana and solanum procumbens.

Therefore, the Food Safety Department recommends that people should not abuse alcohol, not drink alcohol of unknown origin, and should not soak alcohol with plants, animals, and parts of animals, insects... to avoid poisoning.

Cases of poisoning from drinking alcohol soaked in natural herbs are quite rare. Most cases of alcohol poisoning that require hospitalization are due to drinking alcohol mixed with industrial alcohol methanol or medical alcohol.

Previously, these 7 people were poisoned on the afternoon of October 27 at a housewarming party in Vinh Hoa village, Trong Quan commune, Dong Hung district, Thai Binh province. 9 people drank alcohol, of which 2 drank white wine and 7 drank wine soaked with dried fruit. After drinking 1-3 cups, those who drank the wine all had symptoms of hot faces, drowsiness, sometimes convulsions, hallucinations, and restlessness...

The patients were transferred to the Poison Control Center, Bach Mai Hospital (Hanoi). Of these, two people in deep coma were kept at Bach Mai Hospital for emergency treatment, while the other five were transferred to the provincial hospital after their health stabilized for further treatment.

By the afternoon of October 30, 6 people had been discharged from the hospital, 1 patient in the emergency room at the Poison Control Center still had mild rhabdomyolysis and was transferred to the provincial hospital for treatment.

According to Chinhphu.vn