TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2020//
TI  - Fatal methanol poisoning caused by drinking adulterated locally distilled alcohol: Wakiso District, Uganda, June 2017
JO  - Journal of environmental and public health
A1  - Doreen, Birungi
A1  - Eyu, Patricia
A1  - Okethwangu, Denis
A1  - Biribawa, Claire
A1  - Kizito, Susan
A1  - Nakanwagi, Miriam
A1  - Nguna, Joyce
A1  - Nkonwa, Innocent H.
A1  - Opio, Denis N.
A1  - Aceng, Freda L.
A1  - Alitubeera, Phoebe H.
A1  - Kadobera, Daniel
A1  - Kwesiga, Benon
A1  - Bulage, Lilian
A1  - Ario, Alex R.
A1  - Zhu, Bao-Ping
SP  - e5816162
EP  - e5816162
VL  - 2020
IS  - 
N2  - BACKGROUND: Methanol, an industrial solvent, can cause illness and death if ingested. In June 2017, the Uganda Ministry of Health was notified of a cluster of deaths which occurred after drinking alcohol. We investigated to determine the cause of outbreak, identify risk factors, and recommend evidence-based control measures. <br><br>METHODS: We defined a probable case as acute loss of eyesight and ≥1 of the following symptoms: profuse sweating, vomiting, dizziness, or loss of consciousness in a resident of either Nabweru or Nangabo Subcounty from 1 to 30 June 2017. In a case-control study, we compared exposures of case-patients and controls selected among asymptomatic neighbors who drank alcohol and matched by age and sex. We collected alcohol samples from implicated bars and wholesaler <i>X</i> for testing. <br><br>RESULTS: We identified 15 cases; 12 (80%) died. Among case-patients, 12 (80%) were men; the median age was 43 (range: 23-66) years. Thirteen (87%) of 15 case-patients and 15 (25%) of 60 controls last drank a locally distilled alcohol at one of the three bars supplied by wholesaler <i>X</i> (OR<sub>M-H</sub> = 15; 95% CI: 2.3-106). We found that alcohol sellers sometimes added methanol to drinking alcohol to increase their profit margin. Among the 10 alcohol samples from wholesaler <i>X</i>, the mean methanol content (1200 mg/L, range: 77-2711 mg/L) was 24 times higher than the safe level. <br><br>CONCLUSION: This outbreak was caused by drinking a locally distilled alcohol adulterated with methanol from wholesaler <i>X</i>. We recommended enforcing existing laws governing alcohol manufacture and sale. We recommended timely intravenous administration of ethanol to methanol poisoning victims.<br><br>Copyright © 2020 Birungi Doreen et al.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1687-9805
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2020/5816162
ID  - ref1
ER  -