Elderly woman dies of Amanita mushroom poisoning

Victim was by no means inexperienced at picking wild mushrooms

Amanita virosa

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An elderly woman in Hämeenlinna has died after eating highly toxic white Amanitas also known as ”destroying angels” (Amanita virosa), reports the regional daily Hämeen Sanomat.
      The woman was regarded as an experienced mushroom picker.
     
The patient came to the hospital last Friday, whereupon she was diagnosed with severe liver failure caused by white Amanitas, reports Markku Järvinen, Director and Chief Physician in the Kanta-Häme Hospital District.
      The patient’s condition weakened rapidly, and she was transferred to the intensive care unit.
      At the same time, the Surgical Hospital in Helsinki was consulted relating to the prospects for starting artificial liver treatment. It turned out that it was not possible.
      The patient’s condition continued to get worse, and she died on Monday.
      The poisonings caused by white Amanitas became public already early last week, when it turned out that three patients had ended up in the intensive care unit of the Surgical Hospital in Helsinki, and a fourth victim had been taken to the ICU of another hospital in Southern Finland.
     
Two other mushroom poisoning patients have also been treated in the Kanta-Häme Central Hospital, namely a mother and her adolescent son.
      The son recovered soon, but the mother is still being treated in hospital. However, she is likely to be discharged soon.
      These poisonings had also been caused by the white Amanita.
      According to Järvinen, the occurrence of three mushroom poisonings in the hospital district is extremely exceptional. In his opinion, campaigns for the safe consumption of wild mushrooms and preventive measures against potential mushroom poisonings should be stepped up.
     
The Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa does not comment on the condition of individual patients, while reporting that all three patients who are being treated in the Surgical Hospital are recovering.
      The patients had eaten white Amanitas, which resulted in a life-threatening toxicosis.
     
Typically, patients with poisoning caused by white Amanitas have eaten a large piece of a toxic mushroom or several mushrooms.
      These fungi contain toxins known as amatoxins that cause symptoms only after the toxin has spread into the organs, and not immediately upon ingestion.
      Such symptoms include nausea, vomiting, stomach ache, and watery diarrhoea. Thre can also be short periods after the first onset of symptoms when the patient feels deceptively well.
      A serious case of poisoning can lead to the destruction of the liver in 4 to 8 days.
      The death cap (Amanita phalloides) is the most poisonous fungus in the genus Amanita.
      In Finland it can be found only in the Åland Islands and in the Archipelago of Turku.
      The death cap has not caused many poisonings in Finland.
      Other Amanitas include the red Amanita muscaria, commonly known as the fly agaric. Whilst poisonous and psychoactive, it contains a different toxin, and there have been no fatal cases in this country for decades.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Poor immigrants are at risk from mushroom poisoning (28.8.2009)
  Three previous liver transplants made in Finland as a result of mushroom poisoning (27.8.2009)
  Four people hospitalised after eating toxic mushrooms (26.8.2009)

Links:
  Amanita (Wikipedia)

Helsingin Sanomat