WHO helps Vietnam seek rare drugs for botulism treatment
The World Health Organisation (WHO) is urgently contacting to find a source of rare drugs to support Vietnam in treating botulinum poisoning cases, according to the Drug Administration of Vietnam (DAV) under the Ministry of Health.
Hanoi (VNA) - The World Health Organisation (WHO) is urgentlycontacting to find a source of rare drugs to support Vietnam in treatingbotulinum poisoning cases, according to the Drug Administration of Vietnam (DAV)under the Ministry of Health.
The DAV revealed that botulism is a rare but life-threatening condition that isprimarily caused by toxins produced by Clostridium botulinum bacteria. Thepoisoning is very rare both in Vietnam and around the world.
The main cause is that patients are infected with bacterialtoxins in poor-quality foods or eating poorly preserved foods. Since 2020, therehave been only a few cases each year, with three cases recently recordedin Ho Chi Minh City.
Following the cases of botulinum poisoning in the southerncity, the DAV has worked with the WHO to seek assistance for supply of botulismantitoxin.
Furthermore, it has also asked the city’s Cho Ray Hospitalto contact importers and suppliers in order to get more drug supplies.
Most notably, the Ministry of Health has proposedestablishing storage centres for rare drugs in socio-economic regions andsetting up a mechanism for the expired rare drugs.
The Ministry of Health has also advised people to becautious by not preserving and using food that has been processed for a longtime, to avoid the risk of poisoning in general, and botulinum poisoning inparticular./.
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Botulism Antitoxin (Photo: Children's Hospital 2) 
