Another child dies of mushroom poisoning in Moldova

Chisinau, 16 July /MOLDPRES/ – The second child of Floreşti family, which poisoned of mushroom, died today in the Surgery and Intensive Care Reanimation Section of Institutul Mamei si Copilului (Mother and Child Institute) in Chisinau municipality.

The death was confirmed for Agency by the medical institution spokesman Maxim Cazacu. He said the little eight-year-old girl lost her life in the afternoon today, after being connected to apparatus for four days, vital functions being artificially maintained.

He specified that the girl and her four-year-old brother were brought to Sfanta Treime (Holy Trinity) hospital on 09 July, accusing vomiting, headaches, diarrhea. The four-year-old child died on 12 July evening.

According to doctors, the two children and their mother, which is currently admitted to Holy Trinity hospital in Chisinau, got in hospital after eating mushrooms found in the forest.

The doctors urge citizens to avoid eating forest mushrooms and buy mushrooms only from specialised shops or directly from greenhouses.

"The children must not pick mushrooms, there do not have to be gathered mushrooms with worms, old mushrooms, it is an enormous mistake. The mushrooms must not be picked from polluted areas because they have property to accumulate these toxic substances," said chief physician at Toxicology Department, hospital Holy Trinity, Nicolae Gurschi.

If after consumption of mushrooms, there appear signs of intoxication, citizens must immediately request Service 112 and avoid self-treatment. The mushroom poisoning is a medical emergency, and operative diagnosis and treatment can help save the patient's life.

The specialists announce signs of intoxication vary according to kind of mushrooms consumed and may occur within 15 minutes of consumption or after 12 hours. The intoxications, in which symptoms appear in at least 15 minutes, are manifested by lowering of blood pressure, hallucinations, nerve disorders, abundant salivation, lacrimation, pupillus reduction, abdominal pain, pulse decrease, sweating etc.

In severe forms of intoxication, there occurs hepato-renal insufficiency, a fatal coma.

The medical specialists say that popular methods, such as boiling mushrooms for several hours with onion, do not destroy poisonous spores. The limiting consumption of mushrooms is the only form of protection against intoxication.

The data presented by leadership of the Ministry of Healthcare, Labour and Social Protection show that there have been recorded 41 cases of mushroom intoxication in Moldova’s medical institutions in 2018, involving 39 mature and 7 children.

(Reporter A. Zara, editor A. Raileanu)