7-Year-Old Madhya Pradesh Boy, Poisoned By Plant Seeds, Saved In Delhi

A seven-year-old boy from Madhya Pradesh who consumed seeds that release a toxin akin to a viper's venom has been rescued at a Delhi hospital, doctors said on Tuesday.

His five-year-old brother, too, had ingested the seeds, but he developed seizures, went into coma and died within 24 hours, they said.

Doctors at the department of paediatric emergency and critical care in Sir Ganga Ram Hospital had admitted the boy from Bhind district in a critical condition on October 31, the hospital said in a statement.

At the time of arrival, he was showing symptoms of poisoning, including bloody diarrhoea, swelling in the brain and shock.

"When we received the child, I was surprised to find that he was poisoned by a poison called abrin, which is released by seeds of a plant called Abrus Precatorius, also known as Ratti or Gunchi, in India", Dr Dhiren Gupta, senior consultant, department of paediatric emergency and critical care, said.

This particular toxin is as fatal as a snake venom and has a high death rate if not treated on time, he said.

"The child was unconscious, irritable, suffering from encephalopathy (swelling in the brain) and unstable vitals (high pulse rate with shock). The challenge before us was that he was presented to us after 24 hours of ingestion and we lost the golden hour and unavailability of definitive antidote," the statement said.

In these kinds of poisoning, the ideal treatment is complete cleaning of stomach within hours of ingestion and charcoal therapy, Dr Gupta said.

Abrin is similar to venom of viper snake. It causes illness by entering body cells and preventing them from making the protein they need. Without the protein, the cells die, eventually harming the entire body and causing death, the statement said.

The boy arrived at the hospital for a follow-up checkup on Tuesday.

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