Poisonous plant downs 14 kids in Tondo

Fourteen children, whose ages ranged from five to 13, were rushed to hospitals for food poisoning after eating the fruit of the tuba-tuba plant in Tondo, Manila last Monday.

The children, who started vomittng and complaining of stomach ache, were given emergency treatment at the Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center.

No one was diagnosed in serious condition.

Doctors, however, refused to send them home and continued to monitor their condition.

Reports showed that the children were playing at a backyard in Barangay Katuparan, Tondo when one of them started to pick and eat the fruit of the tuba-tuba plant. The others followed.

According to the children, the seed of the fruit tasted like peanuts.

After ingesting the fruit, the children experienced stomach pain and began throwing up. Soon hysteric parents were scrambling to rush their children to hospitals.

According to a doctor, the fruit of the plant contains acid which irritates the lining of the stomach and is not advisable for ingestion.

Residents said as far as they can remember no one had ever attempted to eat the fruits of the tuba-tuba plant until Monday’s incident.

The leaves of the plant, however, are considered medicinal and used as herbal treatment for sprains and headaches.

"All the children had passed the critical stage and we may release them anytime today," said the hospital’s head nurse Rose Chumacera.

The victims were identified as Randy Orino, 12; Ruby, 12, and Randy Dean, 9 both surnamed Tapacion; Jennylyn, 10, and Rosita , 9, both surnamed Ocallo; Albert Garcia, 9; Ronaldo, 11, and Joma, 13, both surnamed Clarisan; Marilyn, 12, Macky, 7, Arleen, 5, and Maryjoy, 9, all surnamed Magno; Christian Ybañez, 9; and Francisco dela Cruz, 7.

The plant is abundant in Pier 18, Vitas, Tondo, Manila.

According to Dr. Eric Tayag, chief epidemiologist of the Department of Health (DOH), the patients recovered after the doctors administered the cathartics procedure that emptied their stomach of the toxin. The patients were given activated charcoal that magnetized the poisonous substance.

When they moved their bowels, the toxin were naturally discharged along with the charcoal. Tayag added that while the sap, juice and oil from the stems and leaves of tuba-tuba are known purgative, anti-rheumatic and anti-helminthic, the seeds are highly toxic. He warned the seeds contain curcin, a toxic substance that cause hemorrhagic gastroenteritis or bloody diarrhea. It could be fatal if the condition progressed into dehydration and circulatory collapse.

"Thirty minutes to an hour after ingestion, one will start experiencing the symptoms. It is better if you vomit because the poison on your body will be less," he said.

Tuba-tuba seeds have an "agreeable taste" like that of peanut. "The taste does not tell you its bads or the tendency is you’ll eat more of it."

Records at the DOH showed that a similar poisoning occurred on June 24, 1996, affecting a total of 36 students of the Ramon Magsaysay High School in Quezon City. – With Evelyn Macairan