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Vietnamese boy hospitalized following wasp attack

Vietnamese boy hospitalized following wasp attack

Friday, July 22, 2022, 10:16 GMT+7
Vietnamese boy hospitalized following wasp attack
Doctors at Ho Chi Minh City Children’s Hospital remove toxins from the five-year-old patient. Photo: Supplied

A five-year-old boy in Ho Chi Minh City is suffering from internal organ failure caused by 15 wasp stings, according to a statement released by a local children’s hospital on Wednesday.

The child, from Binh Tan District, is currently under extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and undergoing dialysis at the Ho Chi Minh City Children’s Hospital as he fights to survive 15 wasp stings, said Dr. Nguyen Cat Phuong Vu from the hospital’s the intensive care unit on Wednesday.

The child had been attacked by a swarm of wasps in his family’s garden.

Following the wasp attack, the boy began experiencing vomiting, diarrhea, low urine output, difficulty breathing, and swelling around the stings.

His eyes eventually swelled shut and he fell into a coma.

The boy's family administered first aid using herbal remedies, but eight hours later they made the decision to rush the child to the hospital.  

The child is being treated at the Children’s Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Photo: Supplied

The child is being treated at the Children’s Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Photo: Supplied

By the time the patient arrived at the hospital, his lips had turned purple due to low blood oxygen levels, his hands and feet had become cold, his blood pressure dangerously low, and he was showing signs of jaundice.

The child had to be intubated, mechanically ventilated, given a quickly increased dose of different types of vasopressors, and treated with potent systemic inflammatory and allergy medications.

Doctors at the Children's Hospital treated the patient as if his symptoms were caused by allergies, but the toxins in his system remained uncontrolled and his multi-organ failure advanced rapidly.

He later began experiencing liver and kidney failure, significantly impaired cardiac function, coagulation disorder, severe lung damage, mechanical ventilation, and acute respiratory failure. 

Doctors then transferred him to the intensive care unit.

According to Dr. Vu, the child might have fallen into cardiac arrest if emergency treatment had been prolonged and ECMO support had not been provided in a timely manner.

After receiving intensive treatment, the patient's health steadily improved and, after more than a month, he was taken off ECMO and had his endotracheal tube removed. 

His lungs have now stabilized and his level of multi-organ failure has decreased significantly.

"The boy stayed home for more than eight hours after being stung by a bee, as his only real symptom was vomiting,” Dr. Vu warned.

“However, when he arrived at the hospital, he was severely shocked and had multiple-organ failure.

“In such situations, parents must immediately take their children to a medical facility if they have been stung, especially if they show odd symptoms.”

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Linh To - Xuan Mai / Tuoi Tre News

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