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Thai Public Health Warns Locals Of Poisonous Mushrooms


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Public Health warns locals of poisonous mushrooms

BANGKOK, 17 September 2012 (NNT) – Deputy Public Health Minister Surawit Khonsomboon has warned local residents of wild poisonous mushrooms after 12 people have died and 400 fallen ill from eating them.

Mr Surawit said more people this year have fallen ill from eating wild mushrooms than they have in the past four years. The Bureau of Epidemiology has reported that from January to May this year, over 400 people fell ill from eating the mushrooms. Most patients were from the North and Northeast. Out of those, 12 people or 3% died.

A one-month-old baby was the youngest victim to have fallen ill from toxic mushroom after the mother ate the fungus and breast-fed her. Most who died from consuming the poisonous mushrooms are the elderly.

The lethal mushrooms belong to the genus Amanita, which grow naturally in the wild. These mushrooms contain amatoxins, which can cause liver and kidney failure. Victims will feel nausea and vomit within 24 hours after eating the mushroom; their liver and kidney will fail, and they will die eventually if not properly treated in time.

According to the Public Health Ministry, many residents have false beliefs and mistaken poisonous mushrooms for edible ones. Such beliefs include seeing bug bites on the mushrooms means they are safe for consumption; mushrooms boiled with rice in the pot together with a silver spoon which does not turn black means they are edible, or boiling mushrooms can get rid of the poison. All of these are misconceptions.

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-- NNT 2012-09-17 footer_n.gif

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