Where does methanol poisoning happen? Most incidents are in Asia

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Where does methanol poisoning happen? Most incidents are in Asia

Six travelers have ***** from suspected methanol poisoning after visiting the tourist town of Vang Vieng, Laos, this month.

The travelers — two from Australia, two from Denmark, one from ******* Kingdom and one from ******* States — are believed to have consumed alcohol tainted with methanol, which is sometimes illegally added to regular or home-brewed alcohol to cut costs.

Some fourteen people were sickened following a night out in Vang Vieng around Nov. 12. One such traveler recently returned home to New Zealand, according to

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.

Methanol is cheaper than ethanol, which is the alcohol that’s normally found in *****, wine and spirits. Odorless and colorless, drinking 30 milliliters of methanol — less than a standard shot — can be fatal, while consuming as little as 10 milliliters — or two teaspoons — can cause blindness, according to the non-governmental organization Doctors Without Borders.

“Methanol poisoning is a global public health issue that has too little focus,” according to a

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published by the organization.

Since 2019,

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that have poisoned more than 39,000 people and ******* around 12,900 people.

A lack of knowledge about methanol poisoning, from the public as well as the medical communities where outbreaks often occur, exacerbates the problem, according to the organization.

Where incidents are the highest

Most incidents of methanol poisoning occur in Asia, according to Doctors Without Borders.

A

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says many foreign tourists have fallen victim to methanol poisoning after consuming incorrectly distilled “arak” in Bali, Lombok and Gili Islands.

In September, several people were poisoned by methanol in Indonesia after consuming alcohol ordered off the internet, according to the website. In July, five students were poisoned after mixing tainted ******* with energy drinks, three of whom later *****, it states.

A

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page called “

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” advises people to drink *****, cider, wine and duty-free alcohol purchased on arrival in Bali, but to avoid cocktails and shots.  

“If someone has to pour a drink out of bottle of mixed spirits behind the bar, there a potential that you could end up with methanol poisoning,” said the page’s creator Colin Ahaern.

“Be careful,” he said. “Bali is a gorgeous place, but it’s got its own traps.”

Countries where the most people have been poisoned

According to Doctors Without Borders, Iran leads in terms of the number of people who have been poisoned by methanol over the past five years.

In April 2020 — the month after Covid-19 was declared a pandemic — more than 5,800 people in Iran were poisoned by methanol in a mass incident that ******* some 800 people, according to Doctors Without Borders. The organization states that many mistakenly believed that drinking the alcohol would ***** the Covid virus.  

Doctors Without Borders cautions travelers about drinking alcohol in informal settings and places that are not licensed to sell alcohol. It also recommends travelers avoid alcohol that’s free or poured from unlabeled containers.

The organization added that many outbreaks and poisonings go undiagnosed since symptoms mirror those that are common with food poisoning and hangovers, such as vomiting and drowsiness. But, it states, methanol poisoning can also cause vertigo, rapid heartbeat as well as blurry vision and blindness.

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