After eating crab soup and cabbage cooked with well water, the girl's blood turned dark brown.

After eating crab soup and cabbage cooked with well water, baby M. started to have seizures, purple lips and blue skin. The family immediately took the baby to the City Children's Hospital (HCMC) for examination.

Baby girl PTM (16 months old, in Can Duoc, Long An ) was taken to the emergency room by her family with purple lips and blue skin.

The medical history revealed that at approximately 2 PM on the day of admission, the child ate crab and spinach soup cooked with rice, using well water for cooking. About an hour after eating, while playing, the child showed signs of startling, cyanosis of the lips and skin, and the family took the child to the City Children's Hospital for examination.

On June 19th, Dr. Nguyen Minh Tien, Deputy Director of the City Children's Hospital, stated that upon admission, baby M. was fussy, had no fever, no wheezing or stridor, and no vomiting. A blood sample was tested after exposure to air. One ml of blood was taken from a 10 ml syringe, the needle was capped and shaken 50 times. The dark brown color of the blood remained unchanged (it did not turn red), indicating methemoglobinemia (red blood cells containing F3+ heme that cannot bind with oxygen to become pink blood). The child was diagnosed with cyanosis of unknown cause and was being monitored for methemoglobinemia.

The child was immediately treated with oxygen, injected with the antidote methylene blue (methylthioninium) 1 mg/kg slowly intravenously, and given activated charcoal to remove the poison from the digestive tract. After 5-10 minutes of injecting methylene blue, the child gradually turned rosy.

Baby girl's blood turns dark brown

PHOTO: BVCC

Be careful when using well water for cooking, do not use beetroot juice to mix with milk.

Methemoglobin poisoning is often caused by consuming foods and drinks that expose us to high amounts of nitrite, commonly found in beets, carrots, well water, or in dyes, gunpowder, antibiotics, etc. Normally, the body has an enzyme system that reduces Fe3+ to Fe2+, that is, converts methemoglobin into normal hemoglobin, thus keeping the concentration of MetHb in red blood cells below 1%. When children are exposed to many oxidizing agents, exceeding the body's reducing capacity, it leads to increased methemoglobin levels in the blood, causing oxygen deficiency in tissues and making the patient's skin turn cyanotic.

Some wells with high ammonia levels often indicate contamination by nitrogen-containing organic matter, such as wastewater, fertilizers, or livestock waste. In an oxygenated environment, ammonia can be converted into nitrite and nitrate, two compounds that can negatively impact health. Nitrite is particularly dangerous because, when ingested, it can cause methemoglobinemia (oxygen deficiency in the blood), especially in infants.

Through this case, Dr. Tien advises parents to be careful when using well water for cooking, as well water contains high levels of nitrates – oxidizing agents that transform heme F2+ red blood cells into F3+ cells, which are unable to bind oxygen to deliver it to body tissues. This leads to hypoxia, cyanosis, tissue hypoxia, anaerobic metabolism, increased blood lactate levels, and metabolic acidosis. Given the increasing water pollution, using tap water for daily activities and cooking is recommended for families.

"In addition, some vegetables and fruits such as amaranth, beetroot, etc. have high nitrate content. Using water boiled from these vegetables to mix with breast milk (because it is thought to have a red color that nourishes the baby's blood) can cause methemoglobinemia, especially in premature babies," the doctor shared.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/sau-khi-an-canh-ghe-cai-nau-bang-nuoc-gieng-mau-be-gai-chuyen-nau-den-185250619152723631.htm