Botulism affects the Central and autonomic nervous system. Bacteria infections can live in stockfish and dried fish, mushrooms, home preservation, fish and meat and canned sausage. YTD botulism sick 76 the Ukrainians, eight of them died from lack of medicine. Until 2014, Ukraine received Russian antitoxin, however, the Ministry of health banned it. According to Gospodarevskaya, 2014 botulism ill 170 people, of whom 17 died, in 2015-m – 178, seven died. The situation has reached the point that the Ministry of health had to seek help from international organizations. In early July, the UN development Programme has allocated Ukraine the serum on 2,5 million hryvnias as humanitarian aid. According to estimates of the Ministry, the Ukraine until the end of the year you need the antitoxin for 20 million UAH. The cure for botulism this amount, the Department plans to procure for the state budget. How to avoid botulism and where to look for drugs, learned website Today.
How to avoid botulism
The causative agent of botulism exists in the soil. It forms spores that can withstand boiling for five hours and die at 120°C using z0 minutes. A person can become infected by ingestion of meat, fish, contaminated fruits and vegetables, improperly canned foods using sausage, ham, smoked fish. The infection affects the nervous system. A severe form of the disease can lead to death. So, death occurs in 5-10% of cases. The first symptoms can appear a few hours after eating contaminated food, and through 10 days. Once in the digestive tract, botulinum toxin is absorbed into the bloodstream and spreads throughout the body, “settling” in parts of the nervous system.
Ukrainians are poisoned and dried fish contaminated by botulism. Photo: Archive.
The symptoms of botulism:
- nausea;
- vomiting;
- pain in the abdomen;
- diarrhea;
- blurred vision (“grid” before the eyes, double vision);
- thirst, dry mucous membranes;
- swallowing disorder;
- headache;
- dizziness;
- insomnia;
- weakness;
- fever;
- feeling short of breath, heaviness in the chest.
Not to get botulism, it is better to abandon cured, dried or smoked fish. These products caused the latest outbreak in Ukraine.
At the first symptoms of poisoning should immediately call an ambulance. In the infectious disease Department, the patient was washed stomach, prick antibotulinus serum. For destruction of spores of the botulinum toxin doctors prescribe antibiotics.
How many in Ukraine, serum against botulism
According to the Director of the Department of food safety and veterinary Gospodarevskaya Boris Kobal, this year the incidence of botulism in Ukraine does not exceed the average of previous years, but the situation is complicated by the absence of serum.
Thus, the batch of serum that Ukraine has put UNDP will create a small stock for immediate treatment of new cases. I only have enough for 25 people.
“Purchase of antivenoms was not part of the programme and it was impossible to buy for budget funds. Therefore, UNDP has procured them at his own expense as a humanitarian aid”, – said the Director of UNDP Natomas Himstra.
The Ministry of health claim that has already prepared calculations of the budget program for the purchase of medicines for patients with infectious diseases, including diphtheria, rabies, tetanus, botulism, and malaria. To purchase medicines against these diseases will be possible only after changes in the state budget for 2017. To vote on amendments the deputies will be able not earlier than autumn. While the Ministry of health indicate that the antitoxin was to buy the local government, not the state.
“Last year, and in this, local authorities are unable to purchase medicines. First, there is no registration of medicines, and, secondly, money,” – said acting Minister of health Suprun.
Received from UNDP serum will be stored centrally, and the regions where necessary will refer them to the Ministry of health.
“We leave them in the Ministry, and we have written letters to the regions, to the hospital directly addressed in regional administration and then we’ll send the serum,” – said Suprun.
Now hospitals, where there is no serum, limit the treatment of detoxification of the body. The patient with a probe wash out the stomach and intestines, put sorbent drip, given antibiotics. However, after such treatment, the infection can remain in the body.
