The case of 5 people poisoned after drinking alcohol in Quynh Luu: The cause is still unknown

Information from the Department of Food Safety and Hygiene of Nghe An province: On March 1, the National Institute for Food Safety and Hygiene Control, Ministry of Health issued Official Dispatch No. 102/VKNQG-KHĐT regarding the response to the test results determining the cause of the incident.poisoningfood (for the season)poisoningoccurred in Quynh Thach commune, Quynh Luu district on February 13, 2023).

Accordingly, 12 blood and urine samples of 05 patients were tested for indicators (screening for toxic substances/risky substances by LC/HRMS, Cyanide content, Alkaloid screening, Salicylate content) and all were not detected or within the quantification limit.

Test results of the National Institute for Food Safety Control for colored wine samples. Photo: Thanh Chung

The results of 3 collected wine samples (including 01 herbal wine sample suspected to be lingzhi mushroom wine, 01 white wine sample and 01 colored wine sample) showed that some indicators had results higher than the reference limit of Vietnamese standards, however, comparing with the patient's symptoms, there was not enough basis to confirm the cause of poisoning.

Based on the test results of the National Institute for Food Safety and Hygiene Control and the investigation process of the poisoning, the Department of Food Safety and Hygiene determined that this was a food poisoning case of unknown cause.

As reported by Nghe An Newspaper: On the evening of February 13, 2023, at Mr. HDD's house, Hamlet 7, Quynh Thach Commune, Quynh Luu District, there was a poisoning incident with 5 people infected. The poisoned meal included dried rice paper, grilled dried yellowstripe scad and 2 types of wine.

The first type of wine drunk was wine soaked with a tree trunk suspected to be lingzhi mushroom (family members said they had drunk it many times before, and had not seen any abnormalities after drinking it in the previous times), then they drank another wine of unknown type. However, during the investigation, the Investigation Team and local authorities could not find this bottle of wine.

All 5 people involved in the poisoning incident were hospitalized with symptoms of purple face, foaming at the mouth, convulsions, agitation, and 2/5 cases were in a coma. By February 17, 2023, 3 patients had stabilized and were discharged from the hospital. On February 19, 2023, 1 more patient was discharged from the hospital. Currently, 1 case is still in a coma and is being treated at Bach Mai Hospital./.