Indiana lead poisoning mystery solved

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - A northeast Indiana area lead poisoning mystery that’s been building for several months appears to have been solved.  The mystery involved scores of kids that tested positive for lead poisoning.

The Fort Wayne-Allen County Department of Health routinely tests kids for lead poisoning if they are under seven and live in areas where lead could potentially exist, such as in older homes. All refugee kids are tested immediately as a precaution.

Fort Wayne has one of the largest Burmese populations in the United States. Health department officials noticed that the lead poisoning problem was largely tied to the Burmese population, but the traditional criteria wasn’t present.

"The kids didn’t seem to live in older, leaded houses. They didn't have it when they came into the country, but after they've been here for a few months, some of them have lead poisoning. Also, children who were born in America were also suffering from lead poisoning," said Amy Hesting, Director of Healthy Homes for the Fort Wayne-Allen County Health Department.

The situation stumped local health officials.

"It was very confusing to us," Hesting said.

Searching for answers, officials with the health department contacted officials with the Indiana State Department of Health. That resulted in a collaborative study, which included testing nearly 200 Fort Wayne-area children in February of 2009.

"We would look at the different consumer products, like medicinal products, that children who were lead poisoned would use,” Hesting said.

That led researchers to discover several parents and guardians were giving their kids Daw Tway or Daw Kyin. The two drugs are often used improve a child's digestion. Researchers discovered that the common drugs actually include high amounts of lead and arsenic, both dangerous to young children.

Since learning the cause, health department officials have been going around to stores in Northeast Indiana that cater to the Burmese population, like Little Burma, urging them to pull the drugs.

Little Burma cashier Hmun Uk has heard of the dangers of administering Daw Tway and Daw Kyin to kids.

"One of my friends came and told me that his child was hospitalized from it," Uk said.

Officials say that not many northeast Indiana ethnic stores carry Daw Tway or Daw Kyin, which has recently been banned in Burma. But the problem is, not everyone in northeast Indiana is getting that message.

"It's a very popular medicinal product in Burma and here with our refugee population," Hesting said.

That's why the health department is distributing brochures in both English and in Burmese to get the word out. The fear is that many people still have Daw Tway or Daw Kyin and haven't thrown it out, or may have given some to neighbors.

The study has received global attention, particularly in Burma and from other U. S. health departments that work with a Burmese population.

More on the Web:  Fort Wayne-Allen County Department of Health