According to statistics from the health sector, from July 2025 to now, Quang Ngai 2 General Hospital, in Kon Tum ward, has received and treated 5 cases of botulinum poisoning. In which, from July - August 2025, the hospital received 3 patients from Kon Plong commune, Quang Ngai province, who suffered botulinum poisoning after eating sour fish. These cases were all successfully treated by the hospital with emergency resuscitation techniques, without needing antidotes because the patients were mildly poisoned.
Next, on March 6, 2026, the hospital received a couple, both 47 years old, in Dak Pek commune, Quang Ngai province, admitted to the hospital in a state of vomiting, fatigue, and weakness of limbs after eating homemade sour fish. After determining that the patient was botulinum poisoned, the hospital monitored and treated actively.
Among them, the male patient became severely ill, paralyzed in all limbs, so the hospital had to put him on a ventilator. Up to now, after more than 10 days of treatment, the patient's health has gradually improved and is still being monitored and treated by doctors and nurses.
According to Mr. Phan Minh Dan, Deputy Director of Quang Ngai Provincial Department of Health, botulinum poisoning is one of the rare but particularly dangerous forms of poisoning because toxins attack the nerves of the body, causing shortness of breath, muscle paralysis, and even death.
The causative agent is Clostridium botulinum bacteria, which produces extremely strong neurotoxins. When severely poisoned, patients need detoxification drugs; and at the same time, emergency resuscitation is required using techniques such as blood filtration and mechanical ventilation. For mild botulinum poisoning cases, treatment is simple emergency resuscitation, no detoxification drugs are needed.
Botulinum detoxification drugs are very expensive, while there are occasional cases of poisoning. This is a type of drug that needs to have a separate stockpile. However, Vietnam's rare drug stockpile is still in the construction phase and has not been completed. Therefore, in the past time, the health sector has had to coordinate detoxification drugs from WHO to save patients with botulinum poisoning," Deputy Director of the Department of Health Phan Minh Dan analyzed.
Faced with the situation of botulinum poisoning due to eating fermented fish and pickled fish, the Quang Ngai health sector recommends that people be careful when using fermented foods in the traditional way such as: pickled fish, pickled vegetables, pickled bamboo shoots... Along with that, canned foods that are not properly preserved can also create botulinum toxins.
