A HCMC doctor has warned against home remedies following a spate of hospitalizations that could have been avoided with proper first aid.

Doctor Cao Van Thinh from the 115 Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City said home treatments had led to amputations and serious lung and heart problems in some cases.

A patient, 40, at Hoc Mon District, HCM City, was hospitalized on February 23 with an infected wound that led to a bone infection and necrosis.

She had treated a small scratch using a home-made medicine containing hibiscus. When her injury didn’t heal she took a friends advice and applied the liver of a toad to the wound. It got infected and she finally went to the hospital.

If people are seeking treatment for an injury, they should go to hospital for a check-up to avoid infection, Thinh added.