HO CHI MINH CITY: The number of people with food poisoning after having banh mi (Vietnamese sandwiches) from two stores in HCM City has risen to 316, Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reported on Nov 13, citing the municipal Health Department.
Authorities have identified the poisoning agent as Salmonella enteritidis and Salmonella spp. bacteria, detected through blood and stool cultures from the patients.
Last week, more than 200 people were hospitalised with symptoms including abdominal pain, diarrhoea, vomiting and fever after eating banh mi.
Most of the patients have already been discharged from hospital, although around 60 are continuing treatment.
One severe case involves a patient with underlying conditions of pneumonia, hypertension and atrial fibrillation, who is being treated in intensive care at Gia Dinh People's Hospital. The patient has been taken off the ventilator and has shown stable vital signs as of Wednesday (Nov 13).
The Health Department has directed hospitals and the HCM City Centre for Disease Control to coordinate with the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit to conduct microbiological culture tests and gene sequencing of isolated bacterial strains to clarify the cause, as well as other factors related to the food poisoning cases. - Bernama/VNA/VNS
