Sarin symptoms

Symptoms Sarin exposure includes rhinorrhea, chest tightness, pinpoint pupils, shortness of breath, excessive salivation and sweating, nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, involuntary defecation and urination, muscle twitching, confusion, seizures, flaccid paralysis, coma, respiratory failure, and death. 

In June 1994 and again in May 1995 the Japanese cult group Aum Shinrikyo created much havoc when they released the deadly nerve agent sarin in two Japanese cities. In the first attack in Matsumoto, Japan, sarin vapor was released in a residential area where judges unfriendly to the cult resided. Seven people died as a consequence of this nerve agent exposure, and 500 people were injured. The 1995 attack occurred in the Tokyo subway system. Several coordinated releases of this potentially deadly vapor resulted in more than 5,000 visits to local emergency departments. Fortunately, the vast majority of exposed victims had few if any symptoms and there were only a handful of fatalities (Tucker, 2006 for further discussion, see chapter 19—Biological and Chemical Terrorism A Unique Threat). 

The National Pohce Academy (1999) conducted a survey of 1,247 residents who reported to the Police Department that they had contact with sarin at the incident. More than half complained of physical symptoms, such as asthnopia and decrease in visual acuity. Seventeen percent reported psychological trauma from the event with 14% still unable to ride on subways 3 years after the incident. 

Inoue, N. (1995). Psychiatric symptoms following accidental exposure to sarin. A case study. Fukuokaishi Igaku Zasshi 86 373-9. 

The only published study of the brain structural effects of nerve agent exposure in a human population focused on longterm changes induced in victims of the 1995 Tokyo subway sarin attack (Yamasue et al, 2007). In this event, which resulted in 12 deaths, approximately 5,500 victims were exposed to sarin, and essentially all patients exhibited typical symptoms of acute intoxication (Lee, 2003 Ohbu et al. 

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