9 workers got poison ivy leaves in Lang Son

Around 1pm on April 19, Lang Son Provincial General Hospital received 9 patients hospitalized due to leaf poisoning. They all work in the same team in a company in Yen Trach commune, Cao Loc district, Lang Son. According to the patient’s account, a group of 9 people from the same hometown in Nghe An are working for a company in this district.

Seeing that there were many kinds of wild vegetables growing next to the workplace, due to confusion with an edible plant, a worker in the group picked the leaves of the group and fried them for lunch. About 30 minutes after eating, all 9 people showed signs of headache and dizziness, so they went to the emergency room.

At the hospital, the patients were actively induced vomiting, emergency gastric lavage, activated charcoal and intravenous fluids. Currently, the health of 9 patients is temporarily stable, some of them still have dizziness and numbness in their hands and feet. Because the poison in the leaves is quickly absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract and can cause severe symptoms affecting the nerves and liver, kidneys, 9 patients continue to be tested and actively monitored.

In Vietnam, leaves are considered as one of the four most toxic plants (in the category A toxicity). The leaves contain a deadly poison, which is the active ingredient Alkaloid.

The leaves are very similar and often grow near many medicinal plants and vegetables, so it can easily lead to confusion. Therefore, people need to be very careful when picking forest trees for medicine or food to avoid unfortunate situations.

Ngoc Trang