the closest truth about that plant in Rwanda

I've got an interesting mail today, sent by a vietnamese, translated for his foreigner folks. He might not know that he's spreading hoax, so he got good intentions, but it didn't keep me away from the pursuit of the real truth behind the story.

Dear all;
Please read below. The message is true. I almost lost my daughter who put a piece of the leaf of this plant in her mouth and her tongue swelled to the point of suffocation. This is one plant but there are others with the same characteristics of coloring. Those are also poisonous and we should get rid of them. Please watch out for our children. As we all leave our children home in the hands of the helpers, we should give them a safe environment where they can play.

"This plant that we have in our homes and offices is extremely dangerous!
This plant is common in Rwanda, in many offices and in homes. It is a deadly poison, mainly for the children. It can kill a kid in less than a minute and an adult in 15 minutes. It should be uprooted from gardens and taken out of offices. If touched, one should never touch ones eyes; it can cause partial or permanent blindness. Please alert your buddies.

The hoax mail, surprisingly, has a partial truth

after searching for a while, we could get the fact that actually the plant name is dieffenbachia. (How to get the plant name? easy, just put these keyword in google: dangerous, plant, rwanda)

Dieffenbachia
Dieffenbachia (pronounced /ˌdiːfɨnˈbækiə/)[1]  is a genus of tropical plants in the Family Araceae noted for their patterned leaves. Members of this genus are popular as houseplants because of their tolerance for shade. The name commemorates Ernst Dieffenbach, a German physician.

The cells of the Dieffenbachia plant contain needle-shaped calcium oxalate crystals  called raphides. If a leaf is chewed, these crystals can cause a temporary burning sensation and erythema. In rare cases, edema of tissues exposed to the plant have been reported. Mastication and ingestion generally result in only mild symptoms.[2]  With both children and pets, contact with dieffenbachia (typically from chewing) can cause a host of unpleasant symptoms, including oral irritation, excessive drooling, and localized swelling.[3]  However, these effects are rarely life-threatening. In most cases, symptoms are mild, and can be successfully treated with analgesic agents,[4]  antihistamines,[5]  or medical charcoal.[6]  Gastric evacuation or lavage is "seldom"[6]  indicated.[4]  Jennifer S. Boyle, MD, PharmD, and Christopher P Holstege, MD, note that, "In a large retrospective study of 188 patients with plant oxalate exposure, all cases were determined to be minor and all resolved with minor or no treatment." [4]  They also note that, "In patients with exposure to toxic plants, 70% are children younger than 5 years."[4]

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1009003-overview
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dieffenbachia

So actually it has some toxin (true!) contained within its leaves. But according to those article in Wikipedia and Medscape, it is not really dangerous. The incidence is small and most of them does not life threatening. But further research in the scientific journals revealed some interesting cases:

about injury in the eye caused by allergic reaction in a chinese schoolboy who accidentaly got sap of the plant in his eye. He survived and his eyesight is back to normal, but it require a week to recover from a very severe allergy reaction, including redness and swelling.

http://smj.sma.org.sg/1803/1803smj5.pdf

Severe Gastro-Intestinal bleeding caused by suicide attempt by ingesting dieffenbachia leaves. The case was experienced by a 12 years old girl. She survived after severe symptoms (including bloody vomit and bloody faeces)  that appeared 5 weeks after ingestion. Interesting how it tooks so long time to express symptoms of toxicity from this plant

http://www.jpedsurg.org/article/S0022-3468%2805%2900235-6/abstract

And this plant is popular in rwanda, just as in other nations and cities.

Conclusion:

The first paragraph of the mail contain plausible fact, the second paragraph contain (a very little) truth which was combined with hoax (extremely dangerous, will kill in 15 minutes, can cause blindness) I personally think the measure taken in the 2nd paragraph is extreme (uprooted from garden, taken out from office)  and does not really required. But just to be save, its better to avoid touching eyes after touching the plant, especially if you're exposed to the sap. I think this is apply for almost every plant, it is stupid to apply sap to your eye only to check whether it could cause reaction.

Final words: keep your plant at home, but dont try to eat it. Only zombies eat plants.