JIST

Abstract

'Poisoning by consumption of wild mushroom is a medical emergency. Incidences of such fatal poisoning have been reported daily from different geographical locations. It has been noted among communities with the habit of hunting and cooking the wild variety. Amongst all mushroom species,

poisoning caused by Amanita Phalloides is considered to be the fatal one because of its hepato-renal toxicity. Moreover, the toxic principle i.e. amatoxin cannot be destroyed by cooking or freezing. Symptoms usually appear after 6-8 hours of consumption and by the time patient is brought to the emergency, fulminant hepatic failure starts. The study is a retrospective one and was conducted for a period of five years to find out the incidence of mushroom related deaths in and around Dibrugarh district of Assam. The results showed that the incidence of such fatality during the 5 years period to be 1.61%. Victims were mostly female (62.37%) and most common age group was 31-40 years (39.78%). Most of the incidences occurred during rainy season (80.65%). Most common presenting symptom was nausea and vomiting seen in 87.10% cases, following 6-8 hours (88.17%). Autopsy revealed multiple haemorrhagic foci in different internal organs. Histopathological changes were also significant with respect to liver and kidney.