Ratti or Gunchi plant is found around many homes in India. It releases a venom called abrin which is more toxic than viper venom. Learn all about the plant, treatment and how deadly it is here.
A child poisoned by a poison called abrin, released by the seeds of a plant called Abrus precatorius, also known as ratti or gunchi in India, has been saved by doctors at a New Delhi hospital. The toxin abrin is a viper-like toxin that causes illness by entering the cells of a person’s body and preventing the cells from making necessary proteins. Without protein, cells die and eventually, it affects the whole body and the person dies.
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A seven-year-old boy named RK from Bhind in Madhya Pradesh was admitted to Sir Gangaram Hospital in a critical condition on October 31. When admitted, the child showed symptoms of poisoning including bloody diarrhea, swelling of the brain. , and trauma, the hospital said in a statement.
Senior Consultant of Pediatric Emergency and Critical Care Department Dr. Dhiren Gupta said, “When we got the baby, I was surprised to know that the baby had been poisoned with a poison called abrin which is released by the seeds of a plant called abrus. Precatorius is also known as Ratti or Gunchi in India. This particular poison or venom is as dangerous and deadly as snake venom and carries a high mortality rate if not treated in time.”
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“The child suffered from unconsciousness, delirium (irritability), encephalopathy (brain swelling) and unstable vitals (high pulse rate with tremors). The challenge before us was that the child was brought to us 24 hours after ingestion and the golden hour was lost with the unavailability of a specific antidote,” he said.
“In this type of poisoning, the ideal treatment is thorough gastric lavage within 2 hours of ingestion and charcoal therapy”, said Dr Gupta. He added that since there is no antidote for abrin, the most important factor is to avoid abrin exposure. If exposure cannot be avoided, Abrin should be removed from the body as quickly as possible.
There is no antidote for ‘Abrin’, say doctors
“In the hospital, ebrin poisoning is treated by giving the victim supportive medical care to minimize the effects of the poisoning. The type of supportive medical care depends on several factors such as the route by which the victim was poisoned (ie, whether the poison was by inhalation, ingestion, skin or eye contact). We did the same and the child was saved and discharged four days after admission in a stable condition”, Dr Gupta added.
Before reaching Sir Gangaram Hospital, RK’s younger brother, 5, who also consumed the same seeds, became severe, had seizures, went into a coma and died within 24 hours, the hospital said. However, RK was brought to the hospital and the doctors saved him.
