In its latest Weekly Epidemiological Bulletin, Public Health France warns against picking wild mushrooms. In the space of seven years, the health agency has identified 10,000 mushroom poisonings, 22 of which were fatal.
Go for a walk in the undergrowth in search of chanterelle mushrooms, porcini mushrooms or bollets… Yes, but provided you know what you’re doing, otherwise you’ll be the victim of sometimes serious poisoning.
239 serious poisonings and 22 deaths
In his last Weekly epidemiological bulletin (BEH), Public Health France discusses the risks associated with picking wild mushrooms. According to the health agency, 10,625 cases of mushroom poisoning were recorded in France between 2010 and 2017. Among them, 239 were classified as serious and 22 people died.
In one out of two cases, the poisoning was collective and involved at least two people. Among those who died were 10 men and 12 women, aged 38 to 88. For 15 of them, death was caused by a “phalloid syndrome”. Caused by amanita phalloides (in 11 cases out of 15), it appears on average between 10 and 12 hours after ingestion and causes intense gastrointestinal disorders (gastric burns, diarrhoea, vomiting, dehydration, etc.), as well as liver and kidney damage.
Seven of the fatal poisonings were caused by “sweat syndrome”. Caused by other fungi, such as certain species of clitocybes, it generally appears between 15 minutes and 2 hours after ingestion and causes nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, salivary hypersecretion or even bradycardia and hypotension. If the sudorien syndrome is considered “relatively harmless”, it can however cause death “in patients with a cardiovascular history.”
Restaurant poisoning
More worrying, reveals Public Health France, if the majority of these poisonings took place after individuals picked the mushrooms themselves, some were also caused by mushrooms purchased commercially: in a store, at the market or at the restaurant. This is the case for 7.2% of poisonings recorded for the years 2016 and 2017.
“Many factors are involved in these poisonings: confusion of an edible species with a toxic species, consumption of edible mushrooms in poor condition, lack of cooking of species secreting heat-labile toxins (morels, shiitake), excessive quantity consumed (tricholome equestrian), individual sensitivity (pink rosés and trehalase deficiency, coprins and alcohol absorption” ”, details Public Health France in its BEH.
To avoid any poisoning, “it is essential to have your harvest identified by a specialist in case of doubt about the edibility of a mushroom, but also to photograph it before cooking”, insists the health agency. It also recommends “not to give wild mushrooms to the youngest”. Of the 10,000 poisoned patients, 3.3% were children under 5 years old. The youngest was only 9 months old.
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