Amanita virosa to blame for highest number of poisonings

This year there have been five cases of serious mushroom poisoning in Northern Estonia. The majority of these have been caused by Amanita virosa or the destroying angel. There are currently two patients hospitalised in East Tallinn Central Hospital with a serious case of mushroom poisoning who mistook the destroying angel for a parasol mushroom.

According to Dr Maria Gustavson, Senior Doctor at East Tallinn Central Hospital Centre of Internal Medicine, the most important thing to do in the case of poisoning is to turn to a hospital. “The initial treatment is to pump the stomach if little time has passed since the mushrooms were eaten and are still likely to be in the stomach. Active charcoal is then administered. First and foremost, make sure you go to a hospital as quickly as possible!”

The symptoms of mushroom poisoning are nausea, vomiting and watery diarrhoea 6-8 hours after consuming the mushrooms. After some time (24-48 hours), the person may feel better but may have already developed liver damage and coagulation disorders. If treatment does not follow in time, the result may be permanent liver damage and hepatic necrosis.

The destroying angel is most often confused with Agaricus silvicola, parasol mushrooms and Cortinarius caperatus. Remember that the gills of the destroying angel are always white and its stalk is surrounded by a baggy volva.

When foraging, buying or eating mushrooms, make sure you only consume mushrooms you recognise! There are ca 200 poisonous mushroom species growing in Estonia. Fifteen of these can prove deadly when consumed by people without timely treatment.