Alcohol poisoning continues in Iran; hundreds of patients, dozens of victims

With the spread of the coronavirus in Iran, the number of people suffering from alcohol poisoning and those who die from it is increasing. In the past few days, more than 600 people have been poisoned by drinking methanol alcohol in Khuzestan province alone.

Since the last day of February, when Islamic Republic officials officially confirmed the first cases of infection and death from the new coronavirus, the number of people who have been poisoned by drinking counterfeit alcohol and industrial alcohol and have lost their lives as a result has increased sharply.

Hassan Hemmati, the public relations director of Fars Emergency Services, told Tasnim News Agency that in the past few days, as of Sunday morning, March 15, 264 cases of alcohol poisoning had been identified in the province, nearly 200 of which were in the city of Shiraz.

This statistic relates to cases registered in medical centers affiliated with four medical universities in Fars province, and it is possible that the number of people affected by alcohol poisoning is much higher.

51 deaths due to alcohol poisoning in Khuzestan

In Fars province, the number of people who have died in recent days from drinking adulterated alcohol has reached 31. The situation in some other provinces, such as Khuzestan, is much worse.

ISNA news agency reported on March 15, citing Ali Ehsanpour, spokesman for Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, that in the past 24 hours, eight people have been referred to Khuzestan medical centers for poisoning caused by drinking adulterated alcohol, and two of them have died.

According to Ehsanpour, including the two new cases, the number of recent victims of counterfeit alcohol in Khuzestan Province has reached 51.

A spokesman for Ahvaz University of Medical Sciences says that "since the outbreak of this problem" until Sunday, 620 people have been referred to Khuzestan medical centers for alcohol poisoning, and of these, 36 are currently being treated in hospitals and 12 in intensive care units.

With the spread of rumors that alcohol is effective against the coronavirus, cases of alcohol poisoning have also increased, and reports of deaths from drinking non-potable alcohol have been published in almost all provinces.

Tehran's Loghman Hospital reported on March 10 that it had recorded five cases of poisoning daily due to non-potable alcohol consumption following the coronavirus outbreak. It is estimated that more than 100 people have died from alcohol poisoning in Iran in the three weeks since the coronavirus began spreading.

Is there a connection between counterfeit alcohol and the coronavirus?

Mohammad Reza Heydari, head of the Food and Drug Administration at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, told Tasnim about the connection between the increase in alcohol poisoning and the spread of coronavirus: "Some people think that because the coronavirus is sensitive to alcohol and is killed by disinfecting hands and surfaces with alcohol, the same thing happens inside the body when drinking alcohol and in fact it has a disinfectant role in the body, while this is a false, unscientific, and unsanitary belief and notion."

Of the two types of alcohol, ethyl alcohol (ethanol) and methyl alcohol (methanol), the former has medical uses and is used in some food, hygiene, and cosmetics, and according to Heidari, "it is often non-toxic."

Drinking methanol alcohol can lead to poisoning and can have serious consequences for vision, up to permanent blindness. Poisoning from this alcohol can also damage the brain and cause death.

Health advice for preparing alcohol

For this reason, the deputy director of food and drug administration at Shiraz University recommends: "People should purchase alcohol from reputable places such as pharmacies, and the alcohol should be ethyl alcohol, because there is no difference between the two alcohols in appearance, and it is impossible to determine whether the alcohol is ethanol or methanol, and it may cause unwanted side effects for people."

The outbreak of the coronavirus in Iran has increased the consumption of ethanol alcohol, and due to its scarcity, it is not easily accessible to many citizens.