RESUMEN
On 17 January 1985, a group of students came to Siriraj hospital with food poisoning. There were 17 cases, 9 males and 8 females, aged between 13-18 years. The symptoms were vomiting 16 cases (94.12%), abdominal pain 7 cases (41.18%), diarrhea 4 cases (23.53%) and palpitation 2 cases (11.76%). The incubation period was about 2.82 hours. AII cases had a history of having lunch with Kapi (Shrimp paste) mixed with rice from the same food shop. In order to prove the cause of the illness, a group of investigators went to the shop, and then a Kapi specimen which was used for preparing the food was brought to the Infectious Disease unit for examination. It is was tested by culture but the result was negative for organism, while the other half of the specimen was investigated further at the Toxicology unit and a large amount of Sodium dithionite was found. It was concluded that the contamination of this chemical in the Kapi mixed with rice was the cause of food poisoning among the victims.
RESUMEN
Fumigation of Book and document for pest control was firstly applied in Thailand ten years ago. Methyl bromide, one of the fumigants, has been used for such purpose, but this process provided a potential health hazard from inhalation exposure of readily vapourized poisonous gas. There were 60 librarians included in the study. In spite of no methyl bromide being detected in the air in the working environment, all of librarians possessed the toxic material in the blood at a level of 1.02-8.13 mg./100 ml. It was probably due to inhalation of toxic gas that formerly penetrated the books and instantly vapourized when the books were opened or rearranged. 91.7% of the workers reported abnormal feelings. The rate of spontaneous recovery was 70.9% in mild category. The remainder needed self-medication or physician consultation. Special investigations were made to evaluate health status. The results showed 13.3% with dangerous methyl bromide blood levels, 28 with mild degree impairment of pulmonary functions, 6.7% with abnormal EEG, slightly elevated enzymes SGPT (ALT) in 13.3%, alkaline phosphatase in 1.7% and slightly decreased leucocyte counts in 10.0%. Recommendations were introduced to carry out annual medical examinations and relevant investigations to all concerned. For those who previously had abnormalities needed periodic check-ups at 6 month intervals. Whenever abnormal feelings occur, methyl bromide in the blood must be considered.