A Romanian was close to death after eating fish. Saved with antidote from Chisinau

The patient is 51 years old, from the city of Urlaţi. On April 9, he ate two cans of fish, the first symptoms appearing the following day.

Initially, the man went to Urlaţi City Hospital, he received treatment for digestive symptoms, but during the treatment, neurological symptoms also appeared – he could not swallow and lift his eyelids – and he was sent to the hospital in Ploiesti.

A Romanian was close to death after eating canned food. Saved with antidote from Chisinau

In such situations, the only treatment that can stop the progression of the disease is an antitoxin. The drug does not currently exist in Romania.

The representatives of the County Hospital requested botulinum antitoxin, but because it was not found in Romania, the hospital received two doses from the Infectious Diseases Hospital in Chisinau.

“We made a request at the national level for this botulinum antitoxin, but it is not found in Romania. As far as I understand, there is no longer a marketing authorization in Romania.

Read also: Eight children hospitalized with botulism. What are the causes and symptoms of this serious disease?

I don’t know why,” declared doctor Andrei Ilina, spokesperson of the Ploiești County Emergency Hospital.

The doctor specified that he contacted the Hospital for Infectious Diseases in Chisinau, from where two doses of antitoxin were sent to Ploiești, a treatment that had already been administered to the patient, his state of health being improved.

“It was considered that one more dose was needed, which was again ordered in Chisinau”, stated, for the Libertatea newspaper, the doctor Andrei Ilinca, on Tuesday, April 23.

Read also: What other dangers does Pangasius hide, the fish loved by Romanians, declared toxic in the West. What the doctors say

Botulism is a rare, extremely serious disease, caused by the toxin released by a bacterium – the bolutin neurotoxin. Humans can contract it by ingesting contaminated food or if an open wound comes into contact with spores of the botulinum bacterium.

It is not transmitted from person to person. In the absence of immediate treatment, the infection leads to paralysis, severe breathing difficulties and death. Most often, botulinum toxin is found in cans prepared both industrially and at home.