A 22-month-old boy from Ho Chi Minh City was hospitalized with serious poisoning after his parents decided to treat him with a folk remedy - rhino horn powder
The baby was brought to Children's Hospital 2 with a high fever and bluish skin. A blood test showed a methemoglobin level ten times higher than normal.
The parents admitted that they tried to cure the child of a cold using rhino horn powder. A rare ingredient was obtained by a family friend. But after taking the "medicine" the baby only got worse.
Senior physician Nguyen Van Loc later explained to the parents that their child suffered from methemoglobinemia. This is an excessive amount of methemoglobin in the blood, in which red blood cells are unable to produce enough oxygen. The normal content of the element in the blood of an adult is 0-3%. The baby's analyzes showed as much as 30%.
The little patient felt better after five days of ventilation, blood transfusions and activated charcoal. The child was then transferred to the general care unit to continue treatment.
Rhino horn is used in some oriental medicine recipes. But according to Dr. Lock, there is no scientific evidence that this ingredient is effective.
However, poachers carrying rhino horns continue to be caught in Vietnam and elsewhere in the region. For example, last year at the Kuala Lumpur airport, police intercepted the largest shipment of horns in history. Unknown persons tried to transport her to Hanoi.
Source: Tuoi Tre News. Translation: Nikita Grebennikov.
