SGGP
Ethnic minorities in the Northern mountainous region and the Central Highlands often have the custom of collecting and using wild mushrooms for food. Many people have confused edible natural mushrooms with dangerous toxins, leading to many very serious poisoning cases.
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| Patients with poisoning from eating cicada mushrooms are being treated at the Central Highlands General Hospital. Photo: MAI CUONG |
Mistaking poisonous mushrooms for cordyceps
On June 5, Doctor Trinh Hong Nhut, deputy director of the Central Highlands General Hospital (Dak Lak province), said that the unit was treating 6 emergency patients for poisoning caused by eating mushrooms grown from Cicada pupae are mistaken for cordyceps. Previously, on the afternoon of 6-3, 6 patients were transferred from the Medical Center of Ea Sup district (Dak Lak province) in a state of vomiting, abdominal pain and loose stools..., of which 6 patients had a state of lethargy. dreams, myoclonic tremor, nystagmus, weak limbs, unable to move. After 3 days of intensive treatment at the hospital, the patient's health condition was stable. Patients with severe symptoms are also awake.
Similarly, recently a resident (34 years old, living in Duc Linh district, Binh Thuan province) went out to the garden and saw a mushroom with horns that looked like cordyceps, so he pulled up about 15 plants to cook. After eating, this person was still normal, but by noon the next day, he vomited a lot, had abdominal cramps, and had impaired consciousness, so his family took him to the emergency room at Cho Ray Hospital (HCMC). According to Dr. Nguyen Thi Thuy Ngan, Deputy Head of the Department of Tropical Diseases, Cho Ray Hospital, the patient was transferred in a state of consciousness, urinary retention, muscle weakness, abdominal pain, and vomiting. The patient is now able to touch and breathe on his own; improved extremity strength; The heart rate is slightly slow and is being closely monitored for pulse and blood pressure.
At the Poison Control Center, Bach Mai Hospital (Hanoi), doctors also regularly receive many serious cases of mushroom poisoning from lower levels. Specifically, the unit has just received 2 patients with forest mushroom poisoning from the Medical Center of Mai Chau district (Hoa Binh province). Previously, these patients and a family in Mai Hich commune had symptoms of poisoning, abdominal pain, nausea, loose stools after having lunch at home with food containing wild mushrooms cooked in soup with guise leaves. Despite intensive treatment, detoxification, shock treatment, mechanical ventilation, continuous hemodialysis, adsorbent dialysis, plasma exchange..., but 1 patient died later due to worsening condition. multi-organ failure.
Do not use mushrooms of unknown origin
Dr. Nguyen Thi Thuy Ngan said that cicadas lay eggs in the soil, then develop into larvae (also known as cicada pupae). Cicada pupae lie in the soil, possibly next to fungal spores. These fungi attack and parasitize the host (cicada pupae), replace the host's tissues and grow long stems, suck nutrients from the host, cause the host to die, and grow large. to the outside of the host body. “Depending on the type of fungus parasitic on the host, it is divided into fungi that are beneficial to health or fungi that are toxic to humans. Currently, it is not possible to determine exactly which fungus causes poisoning for the patient, the diagnosis is mainly based on the history of the patient, as well as the patient's symptoms of poisoning," said Dr. .
According to statistics of the Ministry of Health, every year there are hundreds of cases of mushroom poisoning in the whole country, including dozens of deaths. Mushroom poisoning cases often occur in mountainous provinces such as Cao Bang, Ha Giang, Thai Nguyen, Hoa Binh, Lai Chau... and the Central Highlands. The consequences that these poisonings leave behind are mostly very severe. Dr. Dr. Nguyen Trung Nguyen, Director of the Anti-Poison Center, Bach Mai Hospital, said that there are more than 5.000 types of mushrooms in the world; in which in our country there are about 100 species of poisonous mushrooms, which in appearance is difficult to distinguish between edible and deadly poisonous mushrooms. The emergency and treatment of mushroom poisoning is very expensive but the mortality rate is very high (over 50%), some families have died after eating poisonous mushrooms. “To be safe, people should only eat cultivated mushrooms. Absolutely should not and cannot rely on the morphology and color of mushrooms to distinguish healthy or poisonous mushrooms. Do not try to eat to discover. Poisonous mushrooms, even after cooking, the toxin remains stable, not destroyed. It should be noted that there are many types of poisonous mushrooms, animals are not poisoned, but when humans eat them, they can still be poisoned, "said Dr.
The Department of Food Safety (Ministry of Health) has also recently asked directors of health departments of provinces and cities to step up information and propaganda on measures to prevent poisoning by poisonous mushrooms to households below. many forms, in both Kinh and ethnic languages. Accordingly, people absolutely do not pick and use strange mushrooms, mushrooms of unknown origin to eat; When symptoms of poisoning related to eating mushrooms appear, it is necessary to immediately go to the nearest medical facility for timely emergency and treatment.
Signs to identify poisonous mushrooms
Mushrooms with enough caps, mushroom plates, stalks, stalk rings and base coats are usually poisonous mushrooms. The inside of the mushroom body is light pink, the red mushroom cap has white scales, the mycelium glows in the night, it is a poisonous mushroom. The toxic part is located in the entire mushroom body (cap, plate, ring, stalk, base cover), the toxin changes according to the season, during the growth of the fungus, in the soil and climate environment.
