" LUCKY I WAS TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL SO EARLY "

Phu Tho General Hospital has just admitted a mother and her two children from Thanh Son District (Phu Tho) after eating toad meat and eggs.

The patient’s family said that during the preparation process, the toad meat was skinned and the internal organs were removed, but the toad eggs were kept. After frying, the two children ate the toad meat, while the mother ate the toad eggs. About 30 minutes after eating, all three mother and children showed signs of fatigue, nausea, and vomiting and were immediately taken to the district medical center, then transferred to the Emergency Department - Phu Tho General Hospital.

At Phu Tho General Hospital, through examination and paraclinical tests, 3 patients were diagnosed with toad meat and egg poisoning.

"Fortunately, the patient was brought to the hospital early, and the poisoning was not severe. The symptoms of poisoning mainly manifested in the digestive tract, nausea, and vomiting due to eating a small amount, and there were no abnormalities in the cardiovascular or nervous systems," said a doctor in charge of the Emergency Department.

Dr. Ha Thi Bich Van, Head of the Emergency Department - Phu Tho General Hospital, said: After a day of treatment with washing, cleaning the stomach, activated charcoal, detoxifying fluids, and close monitoring of electrocardiograms and cardiac enzymes, the health status of the 3 patients has stabilized.

EXTREMELY TOXIC SUBSTANCE

Through actual treatment, Dr. Ha Thi Bich Van noted: People should not eat toad meat because they think toad meat is nutritious and can cure rickets and malnutrition. "Toad liver, eggs, skin, pus, eyes and nerve ganglia contain many toxins, especially bufotoxin. This is an extremely toxic substance, heat-resistant, can cause heart rhythm disturbances and death," said Dr. Van.

According to the Food Safety Department (Ministry of Health), toad toxins are found in several body parts. In particular, toad resin is found in the glands behind the ears, the glands above the eyes and the glands on the toad skin, in the liver and ovaries. Toad toxins are bufotoxin compounds including many substances such as 5-MeO-DMT, bufagin, bufotalin, bufotenin, bufothionine, epinephrine, norepinephrine, serotonin... These substances affect the cardiovascular system, causing hallucinations, lowering blood pressure... Food poisoning occurs due to eating toad meat contaminated with toxins (due to toad resin, crushed liver, and bile stuck on toad meat) and in some cases due to eating toad liver and eggs.

Symptoms of toad toxin poisoning are acute, appearing 1-2 hours after eating (maybe earlier if drinking alcohol) with the following symptoms: bloating, upper abdominal pain accompanied by severe vomiting, possibly diarrhea; nervousness, palpitations, rapid heartbeat, arrhythmia, cardiovascular collapse.

In people infected with toad toxins, blood pressure is initially high, then drops; there are sensory disturbances (pain like needle pricks in the fingertips, toes, numbness), dizziness, hallucinations, possibly difficulty breathing, respiratory arrest, cardiac arrest; urinary retention, anuria and severe cases lead to acute renal failure. If toad sap splashes and comes into direct contact with the eye mucosa, the toxins in this sap will cause burning, mucosal edema...