Amanita Phalloides Mushroom Poisoning: A Cluster of Four Fatalities

Abstract

A group of four illegal aliens had been without food for several days when they found a group of wild mushrooms growing in a field in Southern California. Each man consumed a meal of one to six fried mushrooms. Two days after eating the mushrooms, all four men developed abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhea, and intractable vomiting. Three days after consuming the mushrooms, all four were hospitalized and their clinical courses rapidly deteriorated to refractory hepatorenal failure and coma. Three of the victims died three days after admission to the hospital and the fourth died eight days after admission. The autopsy findings are presented and the mechanism of Amanita phalloides mushroom poisoning is discussed.

Mycotoxins revisited: Part I

“…A phalloides are most abundant in the late summer and autumn (35). In North America, these mushrooms are generally found in the cool coastal regions on the west coast, the northeast, and the mid-Atlantic coast (3,32). Amanitas tend to grow in moist forests in association with deciduous trees such as oak and chestnut; however, they also have been found in urban lawns (20,36,37).…”

“…In 1988, five million pounds of specialty mushrooms and 632 million pounds of agaricus mushrooms were produced (2). Beyond commercial production, the practice of mushroom hunting has long been common in Europe, and has become increasingly popular over the past decade in the United States (3,4).…”

REVIEW The renal pathology of mushroom poisoning

“…While mushroom poisoning is rare in the British Isles, it is not unusual in Eastern Europe from where most of the literature pertaining to this subject originates. Most cases of mushroom poisoning involve Amanita phalloides 1,2 . Cases caused by the Cortinarius species were first described in Poland in 1956 3 .…”

Development of a DNA-Based Macroarray for the Detection and Identification of Amanita Species

“…with the death of the wife and three children of the Greek poet Euripides and to the alleged mushroom poisoning of Roman Emperor Claudius by his wife in 54 A.D. (1,2). In 1918, 31 Polish children died after Amanita phalloides was prepared as part of a school meal (3). Mushroom poisonings continue to be a health concern today and they are a fairly common medical emergency (4).…”