Mushroom poisoning with deadly consequences

Mushroom pickers mistook mushrooms and died of fungal poisoning

09/10/2011

Several people had to be treated in the district of Herford because of a poisoning in the hospital, a patient died from the effects of poisoning.

In recent weeks, it has repeatedly come to potentially fatal confusion of mushroom varieties. A total of seven people with fungal poisoning had to be treated in the hospital, reported the Herford Hospital on Friday compared to the „Mindener Tageblatt“. One patient had died from the poisoning caused by self-collected green tuberous toadstools. Those affected apparently had the mushrooms with them for consumption „confused with young meadow mushrooms or the Green Täubling“, reported the employee of the lower landscape authority of the district of Herford, Hannelore Frick-Pohl.

Mushroom pickers repeatedly confuse the highly poisonous tuberous toadstools (see picture) with supposedly edible mushrooms. Even small amounts of fungal toxin can cause severe liver damage, which increases with increasing dose „leading to liver failure“, the statement of the senior physician in the field of intensive care at the Klinikum Herford, Dr. med. med. Steffen Grautoff. Corresponding fungal poisoning requires immediate medical care, in which immediate administration of an antidote and in an emergency with the help of a special dialysis procedure, the toxins of the tuberous mushroom from the blood of the patient must be removed. If medical treatment is interrupted or if it is initiated too late, a liver transplant may be required and a fatal course of fungal poisoning is imminent.

Since there is a relatively high likelihood of confusion with the young Wiesenchampignon and the Grüner Täubling especially in the case of the green tuber-tree mushroom, the highly poisonous mushrooms always end up on the plate, especially with inexperienced mushroom pickers - with serious consequences for the health. Agricultural biologist Hannelore Frick-Pohl therefore emphasized that „Of course“ only the „suitable species, which can also be identified 100 percent“, should be consumed. If it is suspected that poisonous mushrooms have been inadvertently eaten, consult a doctor or hospital immediately. Also, the poison emergency call centers can often already offer first assistance with a call.

Signs of fungus poisoning
According to the experts, typical signs of fungus poisoning by the green tuber-leaf fungus are stomach pain, nausea and vomiting eight to sixteen hours after the consumption of the mushrooms. The active substance Amanitin spreads in the organism, whereby the lethal dose for humans is already with 0.1 milligrams per kilogram body weight. Just a few milligrams can lead to the death of consumers. According to the experts, 35 grams of the Green Bone Mushroom contain enough poison to life-threateningly poison a person weighing around 70 kilograms. Thus, the consumption of a single mushroom can be quite deadly. The likelihood of confusion and the strong poison of the Green Bone Agaric have according to the experts result in this country is responsible for about 90 percent of fatal fungal poisoning. (Fp)

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Picture: Marion