Woman critical after eating poisonous mushrooms
A woman in her 50s is in a critical condition after eating poisonous mushrooms picked at Box Hill in Melbourne's east on Saturday.
Victoria Health warns that autumn has created ideal growing conditions for dangerous fungal varieties including death cap fungus and the yellow staining mushroom.
The director of emergency at the Austin Hospital, Dr Fergus Kerr, says dangerous mushrooms can look similar to edible ones
"They actually vary in colour and size depending on where they are growing or what time of year it is," he said.
"It's fraught with danger.
"Our general advice is not to pick them and stick with commercially grown produce."
Dr Kerr says initially patients can appear well but 12 to 24 hours later they develop serious vomiting and diarrhoea.
"It's not an immediate affect. And then subsequently it progresses day by day into multiple organ failure, particularly focusing on the liver," he said.
The yellow staining mushroom turns yellow when the cap or stem is bruised by a thumbnail.
The death cap is a large mushroom with white gills and the base of the stem is surrounded by a cup-shaped sack.
It is responsible for 90 per cent of all mushroom poisoning deaths.
History:
- Death cap mushrooms are considered the most poisonous in the world and one is enough to kill an adult human.
- At least five people have died and at least 12 made sick from eating death cap mushrooms in Australia in the past decade.
- Death caps have been involved in the majority of deaths around the world from mushroom poisoning, including that of Roman emperor Claudius.
Appearance:
- Death cap mushrooms are similar in appearance to several species of edible mushrooms commonly used in cooking, such as paddy straw mushrooms and caesar's mushroom.
- Death caps may be white but are usually pale green to yellow in colour, with white gills and a white or pale green stalk up to 15cm long.
- The entire mushroom is poisonous and cooking or peeling the mushroom does not remove toxicity.
Symptoms:
- Death caps are said to taste pleasant and symptoms can occur six to 24 hours after consumption.
- Initial symptoms can include abdominal pain, diarrhoea, vomiting, hypotension and jaundice, followed by seizures, coma, renal failure and cardiac arrest.
Habitat:
- Death cap mushrooms can be found in parts of south eastern Australia, particularly ACT and parts of Victoria.
- They are commonly found near established oak trees and some other hardwood trees and are most common during later summer to early winter after heavy rain or irrigation.
- It is thought death caps were introduced to Australia with the importation of different hardwoods.
Treatment:
- Death caps are extremely poisonous and if consumed it is a medical emergency.
- Anyone who suspects they have eaten a death cap should seek immediate medical attention and where possible take a mushroom sample for identification.
Source: ABC News, 7 June 2012
