3 in ICU after eating pufferfish

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3 in ICU after eating pufferfish

PORT MORESBY: The three people admitted in Port Moresby General Hospital Intensive Care Unit after eating a poisonous specie of pufferfish have a fighting chance to survive, Hospital Emergency Physician and St John Ambulance Chief Medical Officer Dr Mangu Kendino says.

“They all had paralysis and difficulty breathing and were given immediate mechanical ventilation and critical care.

“There is no antidote for this type of poisoning,” she added.

“Their recovery will depend on supportive intensive care until the poison wears off,” Kendino said.

Read on for more details on the case and about pufferfish which contain poison that is up to 1,200 times that of cyanide. A pufferfish has enough toxin to kill 30 adult humans and there is no known antidote.

The news break was reported by The National:

Pufferfish victims recovering

July 26, 2022The NationalNational

By LULU MARK
THE three people admitted in the Port Moresby General Hospital Intensive Care Unit after eating a poisonous specie of pufferfish have a fighting chance to survive, Hospital Emergency Physician and St John Ambulance chief medical officer Dr Mangu Kendino says.
“They all had paralysis and difficulty breathing and were given immediate mechanical ventilation and critical care.
“There is no antidote for this type of poisoning,” she said.
“Their recovery will depend on supportive intensive care until the poison wears off,” she added.
Kendino said the quick response by all the health responders outside and inside the hospital had probably given the three a fighting chance to recover.
“The three patients are no longer relying on ventilators to breath,” she added.
The three are a 25-year-old man, a 13-year-old boy and a 22-year-old woman from Gereka village outside Port Moresby.
They were believed to have eaten the internal organs of a large pufferfish and were brought to the hospital by a St John Ambulance on Friday.

3 in ICU after eating pufferfish

July 25, 2022The NationalNational

THREE people are fighting for their lives in Port Moresby General Hospital’s intensive care unit (ICU) after they were believed to have eaten poisonous pufferfish on Friday.
Hospital emergency physician and St John Ambulance chief medical officer Dr Mangu Kendino said the patients, a 13-year-old boy, a 25-year-old man and a 22-year-old woman were rushed to the hospital from Gereka village a few kilometres outside the city.
Kendino said they consumed the internal organs (liver/intestines, etc) of a large pufferfish.
She said pufferfish contained a toxin called tetrodotoxin which is found on its skin or internal organs and is one of the most deadly natural poison.
“This poison blocks the ability of muscles to contract and therefore it will affect all muscles, causing paralysis,” she said.
“Paralysis of the breathing muscles means patients will become hypoxic (low on oxygen in the blood). The toxin cannot be broken down by cooking.
“It is, therefore, not recommended for anyone to eat this fish. There is no antidote for the poisoning.
“Therefore, we are not able to administer any type of anti-venom (like we would for snake-bite patients).
“All three patients had paralysis and difficulty in breathing on arrival at the emergency department.
“They were immediately artificially ventilated and eventually transferred to the ICU for ongoing mechanical ventilation and critical care.
“The recovery of these patients is dependent on supportive intensive care, until such time that the toxicity wears off and the patients are able to sustain their own breathing.”