Doctors warn: 2-year-old boy must live plants after eating snails, be careful of snail poison than arsenic

Little Xiao Kang and his grandfather went to eat snail, then 2 or 3 hours later, the two grandchildren began to show a weakened whole body. After being brought to the emergency hospital by his family, his grandfather recovered, but Tieu Khang because of his young age, his resistance was low, and at the same time he ate a lot of snails so the condition was very serious.

During his time in the hospital, the boy appeared to have difficulty breathing and cardiac arrest. The doctor said, it is difficult to exclude the possibility that Xiao Kang could very well become a plant living person, leaving serious neurological sequelae. After finding out, the doctor learned about the type of snail 2 his grandchildren ate was called serrated mud.

Dr Vuong Hau Hung, Deputy Head of Emergency Department of Fujian City's First People's Hospital said: The serrated sludge is a kind of mud snail, Nassarius papilosus scientific name, containing tetrodotoxin, this is a toxin. Damage to the nervous system, more serious can be fatal.

Serrated muds are distributed mainly in coastal areas. Mud snails have many different types of colors. into the most serrated spring mud. The serrated sludge is characterized by a slender tail about 1cm long and about 0.5cm wide, equal to the size of the thumb. In addition, the serrated shell surface usually has 1 to 3 stripes of purple-brown or red-yellow stripes, and the surface pattern looks like a textile thread.

Dr Vuong Hau Hung said: The serrated self does not produce tetrodotoxin, but they eat dead carcasses of fish and other animals, and they also eat some algae and organic debris to maintain life.

However, in recent years, due to changes in the marine environment and the frequent occurrence of toxic red tide, it has resulted in toxic production in algae and dead bodies of marine animals, when snails eat all kinds. These corpses, toxins still exist in the stomach and accumulate into tetrodotoxin. Tetrodotoxin is much more toxic than arsenic, and eating about 0.5mg can be fatal.

Moreover, the method of cooking snails in general is sautéed and boiled without destroying the structure of tetrodotoxin, while also causing toxins to release and increase the risk of poisoning. And what needs to be emphasized here is that there is no antidote to date.

Eat snails properly, not harmful to health

- To ensure hygiene and safety, it is best to buy snails and prepare them at home. Snails should be soaked in rice water for about 1 hour to remove all dirt and remove parasites in the snail.

- Especially, should not eat snails not cooked well.

- In addition to rice water, you can soak the snail in lemon juice, vinegar or chili juice so that fast snail releases all dirt.

- Although snails contain many nutrients, they should not eat too much. On average, only eat 1-2 meals a week.

- People who are experiencing digestive problems should not eat snails.

- Choosing snail shops: Limit eating the sidewalk snail shops, not hygienic. You should only choose reputable stores, ensure clean processing and processing raw snails.

- How to process snails: If you buy snails and make them at home, soak the snails in rice water for about 1 hour to let the snail release all mud, dirt and parasites in the snail. In addition to using rice water, you can soak the snails in vinegar, chili or lemon juice.

- How to eat snails: You should only eat snails when thoroughly cooked. Also, you should not eat snails too much. On average, only eat about 1-2 times a week. For people with digestive problems, snails should not be eaten.

- Tips to choose good snails: To avoid buying the dead snails, not fresh, you need to choose the ones that are close to the outside, when touching, you will close. On the contrary, if you snuggle inside, the snail is not very tasty. The dead snails are often unpleasant.