11-month-old girl suffers severe lead poisoning after using traditional medicine

An 11-month-old baby suffered severe lead poisoning after his family gave him traditional medicine - Photo: N.HAN

On May 11, the Vietnam - Cuba Friendship Hospital in Dong Hoi ( Quang Binh ) announced that it had just received a notice of test results from the National Children's Hospital related to the case of an 11-month-old girl in the area being poisoned after using traditional medicine at home.

Test results showed that the baby was poisoned by lead and arsenic (2 heavy metals).

Previously, the pediatrics department of the Vietnam - Cuba Friendship Hospital in Dong Hoi received an 11-month-old girl from Hung Trach commune (Bo Trach) with symptoms of convulsions.

Through taking the child’s medical history, the child’s family said that two weeks ago the child had a fever. The family gave the child a powdered medicine given by a neighbor. A week later the child had mouth ulcers, so the family continued to give the child the same medicine.

This is a traditional medicine sold in the market, commonly known as orange medicine.

On May 9, the baby was transferred to the National Children's Hospital for necessary tests and treatment.

According to doctors at the Vietnam - Cuba Friendship Hospital in Dong Hoi, lead is a very toxic substance to health, causing many neurological, hematological, gastrointestinal, cardiovascular and kidney diseases.

Once entering the body, this metal accumulates in internal organs (especially bones) for a long time and takes decades to be eliminated.

"In this child's case, the risk of neurological sequelae is very high," said the pediatrician at this hospital.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/be-gai-11-thang-tuoi-ngo-doc-chi-nang-sau-khi-dung-thuoc-gia-truyen-20240511095040615.htm