On the evening of May 15th at 8:20 p.m., in the ICU ward of the Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, 28-year-old groom-to-be Ma Bin closed his eyes forever, and the wedding originally scheduled for May 8th turned into a mere illusion.
According to reports from the Qilu Channel and others, Ma Bin and his girlfriend, after a few years of long-distance relationship, finally prepared to enter the marriage hall under the urging of their families. To prepare for the wedding, Ma Bin arranged his work and hurried back to his hometown in Sishui from out of town on April 28th. The whole family was very happy, with his grandfather even specially killing a rooster for him.
After not finishing his meal, Ma Bin continued eating the next day. At first, Ma Bin only felt bloated. Due to the busy preparations for the wedding, he did not go to the hospital for a check-up. It wasn’t until May 5th when he suddenly fainted and was urgently rushed to the hospital, transferred to three hospitals, and eventually diagnosed with acute liver failure, kidney failure, hepatic encephalopathy, and coagulation dysfunction at a top tertiary hospital in the provincial capital.
Reports indicate that this meant that more than 80% of Ma Bin’s liver function had been lost, requiring the replacement of plasma equivalent to double the body’s blood volume every day to sustain life. Upon hearing the news in Sishui, villagers lined up overnight to donate blood, but could not save Ma Bin’s life. He stopped breathing at 8:20 p.m. on May 15th.
The autopsy report revealed that the chicken he ate was infected with avian influenza virus and bred a large amount of Salmonella bacteria after being refrigerated for 24 hours. Furthermore, when Ma Bin first felt unwell, he did not seek medical attention promptly, missing the best treatment window. What was even more fatal was that Ma Bin had previously been infected with the hepatitis B virus, making his liver already fragile, ultimately leading to his loss of life.
Data from the China CDC shows that in mainland China, the mortality rate from microbial poisoning in foodborne disease outbreaks reaches 1.3% annually, with young and middle-aged adults accounting for 27% (2023 monitoring report).
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