Many seek treatment for mushroom poisoning

Every year, many Swedes have to seek medical care after mistaking edible mushrooms for poisonous mushrooms. Peter Hultén is a mushroom expert at the Poison Information Center and he urges caution.

– Top venom spidering is common and there is likely to be plenty of it this year. Many have seen it.

That type of mushroom thrives in the same terrain as some types of edible mushrooms.

– The usual thing is that people think they have picked chanterelles. Those mushrooms are not really the same, but they grow in the same environment.

The poison in the top poison ivy can cause serious damage to the kidneys.

– There is really no treatment.

Many people born abroad get sick

During last year’s mushroom season, the Poison Information Center received 1,423 questions about mushrooms. All of last year, 54 people sought specialist care for mushroom poisoning, according to the National Board of Health and Welfare.

Deaths linked to mushroom poisoning only occur once every ten years, according to Peter Hultén. The number of poisonings can usually be linked to the general availability of mushrooms.

– This year it seems to be very variable around the whole country.

Peter Hultén tells us that it is common for people who come from other countries to suffer serious mushroom poisoning.

– When you have mushrooms in your own home countries that resemble and resemble the mushrooms found here in Sweden, it can be like that.

White and insidious fly agaric are two poisonous mushroom species found in Swedish forests and can cause liver damage. According to Hultén, the symptoms of such poisonings are only noticeable several hours after the mushroom has been eaten.

– You get a lot of pain in the stomach and especially watery, gushing diarrhoea.

Use a new mushroom book

During the mushroom season, the Poison Information Center usually receives 300–500 calls a month. The most common thing is that people ask questions after children have ingested a small amount of mushrooms.

– There is very little risk of being seriously poisoned when you are a child and taste mushrooms. Then it is often necessary to eat a meal, a larger amount.

Peter Hultén recommends that anyone going out into the mushroom forest takes a course and takes an updated mushroom book with them into the forest.

– Older mushroom books may contain incorrect information.

Facts

So many sought treatment for mushroom poisoning

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