Over the past few years, there has been a terrible illness across South Korea, with up to 80 people infected, more than 30 of whom have tragically passed away. These cases are not just concentrated in Seoul, but spread throughout South Korea, and they are difficult to prevent. Friends have repeatedly told him that similar cases are everywhere throughout South Korea, and the number is growing. He began to ask, "Have you ever encountered such a patient?"In response to this problem, he has emailed many doctor friends across the country to learn more about the cases so that he can broaden the scope of his research. In the spring of 2007, he was surprised to find that there had been a resurgence of infants with lung disease similar to before. However, with the end of spring, the number of such patients gradually decreased. However, his investigation didn't stop there. He decided to call a friend at another hospital in Seoul to find out if they had a similar case.
To his shock, there were such patients in their hospital wards. As he said, this is unprecedented. In fact, there has never been such a high mortality rate of 80% before.
In subsequent surveys, the mortality rate dropped to 25 percent. Even in patients with severe lung disease or acute respiratory failure, the mortality rate is only 40% after **. Surprisingly, however, these patients did not get as well as expected and, instead, died one after another. At one point, the mortality rate even rose to about 80 percent. Although Hong Xiuzhong used corticosteroids** to stabilize the condition of the children whose ventilators were not working properly, there has been no progress in finding a specific **.
And it was then that a pediatrician named Hong so-jong admitted several infants and young children, all of whom had similar symptoms, including a dry cough and difficulty breathing.
During the examination, the doctor found that they all had varying degrees of lesions in their lungs, and some even had formed pneumothoraxes. These children have the same symptoms. At Asan Hospital in Seoul, he treated more than a dozen of these patients. These incidents occurred in the spring of 2006 and have not yet been identified.
Topic 2 Now, let's talk about the causes and consequences of a real incident!In 2011, a massive "humidifier killing" outbreak in South Korea caused national panic, killing 20,000 people and causing nearly a million people to become ill for life. The incident has once again attracted the attention of South Korean health authorities, as well as an unprecedented emergency. The condition was initially only seen in children, but the cause of its trigger remains a mystery. Doctors such as Hong Xiuzhong conducted a comprehensive analysis and evaluation of the existing cases and finally came to a preliminary conclusion that it is a disease that currently occurs only in children.
Topic introduction: Have you ever thought that a mysterious disease could break out across the country and take the lives of innocent pregnant women?Today I want to tell you a thrilling story.
On May 10, the sad news came that five pregnant women had died of an unknown lung disease. The tragedy has attracted great attention from the Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention. In fact, the disease emerged five years ago, but it has not received enough attention.
Back in early March 2011, Ms. Yin was 6 months pregnant, and on her way to work, she suddenly felt difficulty breathing and almost suffocated. She had experienced discomfort due to chest tightness and shortness of breath, but it never caught her attention. This time, the symptoms were so severe that she realized she needed to seek medical help.
Local doctors advised her to go to Asan Hospital, as only there was enough expertise to deal with this rare condition.
Ms. Yin accepted the doctor's advice and began to be hospitalized for observation**. At first, her condition improved, but a few days later, a terrible deterioration caused her to be transferred to the intensive care unit.
Disturbingly, Ms. Yin is not the only pregnant woman to suffer from this terrible disease. A number of pregnant women were admitted to Asan Hospital, and their conditions were very similar to those of Ms. Yin. The onset of these pregnant women is mainly concentrated in winter and early spring, that is, between November and May.
This rare lung disease begins with symptoms similar to those of common pneumonia, but as ** progresses, the condition deteriorates rapidly, leading to severe pulmonary fibrosis. Whether it's mild breathlessness or an extremely dangerous moment of life and death, this type of pulmonary fibrosis brings great suffering to patients.
Asan Hospital began to feel more and more worried as they began to find more and more patients with lung disease. To solve this mystery, they had to turn to the Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention in the hope of conducting a nationwide epidemiological investigation.
As the investigation deepens, the truth gradually emerges. On May 10, the first pregnant woman died of this rare lung disease, followed by four more deaths. The tragedy shocked the entire country, and the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention took active action.
They named the disease "storm lung" and decided to conduct a comprehensive investigation. They will collect a sample of the patient's lung tissue and analyze its composition. They will also look for commonalities between these patients, such as where they live, occupation, and lifestyle habits. They hope that the results of these studies will help them find the cause of the disease and develop corresponding prevention and control measures.
Although the cause of this lung disease is still in the dark, we believe that with the joint efforts of the medical community, the answer will be found sooner or later. Stormlung patients and their families need our understanding and support.
At the same time, we should also strengthen personal precautions to avoid exposure to possible risk factors.
May we be able to overcome this unpredictable storm sooner and bring health and tranquility to pregnant women and all patients. Reckitt Benckiser's Korean subsidiary was the initiator of this major incident caused by humidifier disinfectants. The investigation into the incident that attracted national attention has been slow, but some clues are beginning to emerge. When the staff performed the biopsy, they found a strange phenomenon, there was inflammation around the bronchi, while the lungs were not damaged. This suggests that something has entered the bronchial tubes, causing inflammation that causes difficulty breathing and poor air flow in and out, ultimately leading to lung damage. And this kind of thing is most likely caused by some kind of substance floating in the air. After a series of investigations, humidifier disinfectants became the "biggest suspects" in the investigation.
However, it was not until August 31 that South Korea's disease administration released its findings and advised people to stop using and selling humidifier disinfectants.
After that, the investigation team conducted a series of animal inhalation toxicity experiments on the disinfectant. They put a couple of mice in a closed room and turned on a humidifier with disinfectant, and the results were incredible. A month later, the otherwise healthy and lively mice developed abnormalities with the same lung lesions as those of the patients, proving that humidifier disinfectants are the culprit of lung disease.
This completely unravels this Pandora's box full of mysteries, but why would something that could have been used for disinfection and sterilization lead to poisoning and death?It turned out that this humidifier disinfectant contained a toxic chemical called polyhexamethyleneguanidine hydrochloride (PHMG).
Depending on the mode of exposure, the toxicity of this chemical is divided into three types: oral, ** and inhaled.
Although PHMG is relatively less toxic to ** and the oral cavity than other disinfectants, and has excellent disinfecting ability, it is often used in products such as shampoos, wet wipes, dish soap, etc. However, the toxicity of this substance varies depending on the route of exposure. In other words, although PHMG is less toxic to ** and the oral cavity, this does not mean that inhalation of the substance does not poison the respiratory tract.
Humidifiers have become killers of inhaled poisons, with the ability to transform inhalation toxicity. Ultrasonic humidifier is a common humidifier on the market, which is not only cheap, but can also turn water into a visible mist that floats in the air. However, there is a problem with this humidifier, if the water contains impurities, these can also adhere to the water mist and spread in the air. When people breathe, these impurities enter the airways with the air and then reach the lungs, causing problems in the lungs.
PHMG is a substance used in humidifier disinfectants that enters the patient's lungs through this pathway, causing further lung lesions and leading to death. Reckitt Benckiser, a brand that may not be familiar to everyone, but its sub-brands – Mead Johnson, Dettol and Durex – are even more well-known.
In 2001, in pursuit of commercial profits, the company added PHMG to its humidifier disinfectant, knowing that inhalation through the respiratory tract would cause toxicity to the human body, but it did not hesitate. What's even more infuriating is that they also shot advertisements that deliberately claimed that the product was not only safe and harmless, but also had the effect of sterilization and disinfection, so that consumers mistakenly thought that they had chosen a "good product", and in the selection process, they deliberately used labels such as "ingredient safety", "departmental license" and "pregnant women and children can use it with confidence" to attract consumers.
South Korea** bears unshirkable responsibility in this incident, and it is precisely because of their poor management and supervision that some companies have taken advantage of it.
After the truth was revealed, South Korean society fell into an unprecedented panic.
Humidifier disinfectant is a must-have daily necessities for most families, and it is involved every year with the advent of winter. The disinfectant is sold in 600,000 units a year and is used by more than 6 million Koreans. The humidifier disinfectant, which was supposed to be purchased to improve air quality, has become a life-threatening bane, and the South Korean people at this time can no longer tolerate it.
In November 2011, South Korea ordered the complete removal of humidifier disinfectants from the shelves, but the development of things has been unstoppable, and neither ** nor enterprises can escape responsibility.
The South Koreans do not approve of the act of taking action after the fact, and they demand compensation and an apology from the company involved.
However, ** and enterprises began to shirk their responsibilities and were unwilling to take responsibility for this matter.
In 2012, an event occurred that shocked the world. The family of the victim of the humidifier disinfectant sued Reckitt Benckiser, but South Korean prosecutors dismissed it on the pretext that "the causal relationship could not be confirmed". Along with this, there is a limitation on the time limit for litigation, which means that once the time limit expires, the litigation will lapse from then on.
South Korea's chaebols have used their power to the extreme, leaving ordinary people with insurmountable obstacles, and they are like eggs hitting stones compared to interest groups.
In order to evade responsibility, Reckitt Benckiser has resorted to all means. They first hired a team of professional lawyers to fight the lawsuit and bribed a professor at Seoul National University to help the company conduct a fake experiment to prove that humidifier disinfectants were not harmful to people. Let's look at this series of actions backwards, which has sparked widespread outrage and a strong backlash against South Korea.
However, this voice lasted for several years, until October 2015, when South Korea finally launched an investigation into the relevant companies, which was under great pressure. While the investigation was underway, a professor at Seoul National University was urgently arrested for accepting bribes and assisting Reckitt Benckiser in fabricating evidence.
For Reckitt Benckiser, there is a lot of evidence to face. On May 2, 2016, they formally apologized to the South Korean public at a press conference. However, the spokesperson's apology and deep bowing did not quell the anger of the victims. In 2017, Reckitt Benckiser's Korean branch was sentenced to 1A fine of 500 million won, including the former president, was also arrested and sentenced to 4 to 7 years in prison.
Then, on September 8, Reckitt Benckiser made a one-time special relief payment of 67.4 billion won.
At the same time, South Korea** has also set up a special subsidy relief fund for victims. During this period, South Korea's former Moon Jae-in also personally met with the victims and sincerely apologized to them.
However, these relief measures and apologies, although belated, are meaningless. According to statistics, as of 2022, the number of people who have caused damage to their health due to the use of humidifier disinfectants has reached 950,000, and at least 20,000 people have lost their lives.
Finally, I would like to remind those who use humidifiers that it is important not to add other substances at will, and it is best to use only purified or distilled water. Man-made disasters are sometimes more terrible than natural disasters. This should have been avoidable event, but due to the selfishness of a few people, it turned into a huge disaster.
By the way, this incident has also been adapted into a movie, "Air Kills", which can be watched by interested friends.