Cassia occidentalis poisoning causes fatal coma in children in western Uttar Pradesh.
We investigated cases of the annual seasonal outbreaks of acute hepato-myo-encephalopathy in young children in western Uttar Pradesh for causal association with Cassia occidentalis poisoning, by a prospective survey in 2006. During September-October homes of 10 consecutive cases were visited and history of eating Cassia beans was obtained in all. Nine children died within 4-5 days. There appears to be an etiological association between consumption of Cassia occidentalis beans and acute hepato-myo-encephalopathy.
Mangla Hospital, Shakti Chowk, Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh 246 701, India. vmv@manglahospital.org
Vipin M
VM
Vashishtha
Amod
A
Kumar
T Jacob
TJ
John
N C
NC
Nayak
D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003128:Coma / Q000209:etiology* / Q000401:mortality; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D004777:Environment; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality; D008297:Male; D009135:Muscular Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012424:Rural Population; D012639:Seeds; D029846:Senna Plant / Q000506:poisoning*; D013577:Syndrome