One dead, 9 hospitalised after taking poisonous alcohol in Nyahururu
Residents carry one of the men said to have fallen sick after consuming adulterated alcohol at a pub in Nyahururu town, Laikipia County, to Nyahururu County Referral Hospital on July 11, 2021.
What you need to know:
- County Health chief officer Donald Mugoi said nine people were admitted to Nyahururu County Referral Hospital in a critical state.
One person died Sunday after reportedly consuming adulterated liquor in Nyahururu town, Laikipia County.
County Health chief officer Donald Mugoi said nine people were admitted to Nyahururu County Referral Hospital in a critical state.
It was said that the 10 men and others took two brands of liquor during a birthday party at a pub on Sunday morning.
Simon Chege, a Nyahururu-based mechanic, said: “I took a different brand from what the others had taken. My friends started complaining of stomach aches while others were found lying by the roads.”
According to medics at the facility, the 10 were taken there by police after vomiting and complaining of stomach aches.
“They were brought to the hospital in a police Land Cruiser after they were spotted lying by roads in various parts of the town. Unfortunately, one succumbed on arrival at the hospital. We managed to stabilize the others,” said Dr Felix Masongo, who is in charge of the hospital’s emergency unit.
Medics at Nyahururu County Referral Hospital attend to one of the people said to have fallen sick after drinking adulterated alcohol at a pub in Nyahururu town, Laikipia County, on July 11, 2021.
Dr Masongo said they could not immediately confirm the chemical the liquor was laced with or the quantity the patients consumed.
“Blood tests will ascertain the chemical the alcohol was laced with. We cannot confirm the quantity taken but some of them seem to have consumed much higher quantities than the rest,” he said, adding it was important to keep some of the patients at the hospital for observation as similar cases in the past have left people with vision problems.
“We have treated several patients with little poisoning and discharged them but we will retain six we feel may be prone to optic dysfunction and other complications,” said the medic.
Dr Mugoi noted that methanol poisoning leads to brain, heart and nervous system depression, which ultimately leads to multiple organ failure and then death.
He asked all those who took the alcohol to go to the hospital immediately for testing and treatment, saying some symptoms of alcohol poisoning manifest between 24 and 48 hours later.
“The county government has dispatched public health officers to the outlets to establish the brands of alcohol the patients consumed and the type of chemical they had for further actions,” he added.
Nyahururu sub-county police commander Mary Kiema said an investigation was launched.
