Man poisoned by eating red mushrooms

Lang Son After eating rice with a red mushroom, a 37-year-old man had a stomachache, vomited, and had diarrhea. Doctors determined that he had mushroom poisoning.

Tests at Lang Son General Hospital showed that the patient had electrolyte disturbances, metabolic acidosis (high blood acidity), acute kidney failure, and signs of liver cell damage. The doctor diagnosed the patient with mushroom poisoning - acute kidney failure, and prescribed intravenous fluids, activated charcoal, and electrolyte replacement.

On June 23, the patient's health was stable. He said he bought mushrooms at the market to cook and eat with rice. Based on the image of the mushroom provided by the patient, the doctors determined that it was a poisonous Russula sponge mushroom. This type of mushroom looks similar to the Red Chéo mushroom - an edible mushroom, so people can easily confuse it.

Image of the mushroom that the patient ate and got poisoned. Photo: Provided by the hospital — The red mushroom the patient ate led to poisoning. Photo: *Provided by the hospital*

This is the second patient poisoned by mushrooms bought at the market, treated at the Intensive Care and Anti-Poison Department, Lang Son General Hospital, in recent days. Lang Son is a mountainous province, with many types of mushrooms in nature and it is very difficult to distinguish them from poisonous mushrooms.

Symptoms of mushroom poisoning after eating include abdominal pain, nausea, and dizziness. Severe cases include difficulty breathing, vomiting, diarrhea, leading to kidney failure, acute liver failure, and can be fatal if not treated promptly.

Yesterday, 14 people in Lao Chau were also poisoned after eating strange mushrooms picked in the garden. Currently, the patients are in stable health, there have been no deaths, and they continue to be monitored. Since the beginning of June, there have been many mushroom poisoning cases in the southern provinces, with two people (in Tay Ninh ) dying.

Doctors recommend that people need to distinguish between types of mushrooms, recognize poisonous mushrooms, and use mushrooms with clear origins. When eating poisonous mushrooms and experiencing symptoms of poisoning, go to the hospital for timely emergency treatment.

Four types of mushrooms are common in Vietnam but can cause poisoning: white poisonous umbrella mushrooms, white poisonous cone mushrooms, gray-brown ribbed cap mushrooms and green-leafed white umbrella mushrooms. The way to distinguish them is based on shape and color.