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 motaman
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Registered: 12/18/02
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 Deadly mushrooms put Lodi family in hospital 
#11447824 - 11/13/09 01:11 PM (14 years, 5 months ago) |
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Deadly mushrooms put Lodi family in hospital
Justin Berton, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, November 13, 2009
Amanita phalloides are coming up after the recent rains.
(11-12) 17:23 PST SAN FRANCISCO -- Three members of a Lodi family who ate so-called death cap mushrooms are hospitalized in intensive care in San Francisco, officials said Thursday.
The mushrooms, formally known as Amanita phalloides, are among the world's most lethal. They are starting to sprout in the Bay Area because of the recent rains, presenting a particular risk to immigrants who mistake them for harmless varieties found in their native countries. Even experienced mushroom gatherers have been fooled into believing death caps to be edible.
The three family members hospitalized since Tuesday night at California Pacific Medical Center declined to allow hospital officials to give out personal information or talk about their condition, other than they are all in the intensive care unit. The hospital would not say how the three are related or where they picked the mushrooms.
The immediate danger they face is liver damage, which if left untreated could lead to death. "Eating wild mushrooms such as the death cap can result in severe and rapid liver failure, requiring liver transplantation or a lengthy hospitalization," said Dr. Carrie Frenette, a liver specialist who is treating the patients.
According to California Pacific, the death rate for people who consume the mushrooms is around 10 percent.
One person died last year in California after eating death caps, according to the state Poison Control System. In January, a family of three survived a poisoning after they returned from a mushroom hunt in Mount Tamalpais State Park and cooked the fungi in soup.
In that case, doctors at UCSF obtained a waiver from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat the victims with an organic compound derived from milk thistle - one of the few known antidotes to death caps - that was air-freighted to the hospital from Germany.
Dan Long, president of the Mycological Society of San Francisco, said the mushrooms take foothold beneath California live oaks and arrive after the season's first rains, then thrive as the temperature cools.
Death caps are rare in most of North America, Long said, but have spread from California in recent years and are now reported along the coast in Oregon.
The snow-white mushrooms have dusted green caps and appear meaty. The tell-tale sign of their toxicity is the pure white gills underneath the cap, Long said.
"You can touch them," Long said. "You just can't ingest them."
E-mail Justin Berton at jberton@sfchronicle.com.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/11/12/BARH1AJ8EA.DTL
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 PassiveAgressive
Sleepy-_-kinoko!
Registered: 10/16/09
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Loc: Tueri honorare saltus
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Re: Deadly mushrooms put Lodi family in hospital [Re: motaman]
#11448579 - 11/13/09 03:18 PM (14 years, 5 months ago) |
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Quote:
motaman said:
Deadly mushrooms put Lodi family in hospital
Justin Berton, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, November 13, 2009
Amanita phalloides are coming up after the recent rains.
(11-12) 17:23 PST SAN FRANCISCO -- ...doctors at UCSF obtained a waiver from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat the victims with an organic compound derived from milk thistle - one of the few known antidotes to death caps - that was air-freighted to the hospital from Germany.
"You can touch them," Long said. "You just can't ingest them."
E-mail Justin Berton at jberton@sfchronicle.com.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/11/12/BARH1AJ8EA.DTL
OMG, they needed a waiver to employ a known cure... and from who? The Food and Drug Administration. They are proving themselves as a barrier to medicine in this case (not all cases). I can't help but to feel upset about this.
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(”)__(”)  Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared. - Prince Gautama Siddharta, the founder of Buddhism, 563-483 B.C.
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motaman
old hand
Registered: 12/18/02
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Effects of poisonous mushrooms linger [Re: motaman]
#11497844 - 11/21/09 10:00 AM (14 years, 4 months ago) |
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Effects of poisonous mushrooms linger
Two Lodi women remain in critical care; man recovering
Jennie Rodriguez
By Jennie Rodriguez
Record Staff Writer
November 20, 2009 12:00 AM
Family members of the three Lodi residents who ate poisonous mushrooms they picked near Lodi Lake said the two women remain in critical condition, while the husband of one is recovering.
Family members identified the three as cousins Tomasa Jimenez and Fidelfa Jimenez; and Tomasa Jimenez's husband, Israel Vega.
Tomasa Jimenez, a 31-year-old mother of three, is in a coma and on the waiting list for a liver transplant at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, said her sister, Inocencia Cruz.
"The truth is I have much faith in God that my sister will be fixed," Cruz said.
Vega is recovering, Cruz said.
Fidelfa Jimenez remains in intensive care, family members say, but they are unclear on whether she requires an organ transplant.
The three were transferred to San Francisco more than a week ago when doctors at Lodi Memorial Hospital learned they had ingested wild mushrooms they picked at the Lodi Lake Nature Area over the weekend.
The mushrooms, known as "death caps" or Amanita phalloides, reportedly cause abdominal pain, cramping, vomiting, diarrhea, liver damage and possibly death. They grow abundantly in California during the fall in places such as Lodi Lake.
Lodi Lake docents have said there are no signs specifically warning people of possible deadly dangers at the park, but there is a sign at the entrance of the park's Nature Area that says, "Collection of plant or animal species is prohibited."
The couple and their cousin are immigrants of Oaxaca, Mexico, who have been here for about 10 years, Cruz said. They believed the mushrooms were safe to eat, as they resembled edible species from their homeland, she said.
County Public Health Services officials had planned to wait nearly a week after the incident was reported to make the news public, because they said the state Public Health Department had already issued a routine statewide warning about the mushrooms. Officials also believed there were warning signs posted at the park.
Ultimately, they decided not issue a public warning, after California Pacific Medical Center issued one when the patients arrived.
Family members said this was the second time the victims had unknowingly harvested and eaten the poisonous mushrooms from Lodi Lake.
"One thinks that everything is the same. We don't know," said Irma Jimenez, Fidelfa Jimenez's sister.
"The thing I want everyone to know is that people should be careful not to pick up things," she said. "It's better to buy things from the store and eat them."
Hospital officials said immigrants are more vulnerable to eating poisonous mushrooms for the same reasons the family explained.
At least seven people in San Joaquin County, including the three recent Lodi cases, have fallen ill this year from consuming wild mushrooms, according to the California Poison Control System.
Cruz, a Fresno resident, is caring for her sister's three children - boys ages 4 and 6, and an 8-year-old girl - while her sister is hospitalized.
"We are very worried," Cruz said. "I hope my sister gets well for her children, especially."
Other family members are caring for Fidelfa Jimenez's 6-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter.
Contact reporter Jennie Rodriguez at (209) 943-8564 or jrodriguez@recordnet.com.
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091120/A_NEWS/911200329/-1/rss02#STS=g2amljwi.n6n
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durian_2008
Cornucopian Eating an Elephant
Registered: 04/02/08
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Loc: Raccoon City
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Re: Effects of poisonous mushrooms linger [Re: motaman]
#11498031 - 11/21/09 10:52 AM (14 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
The snow-white mushrooms have dusted green caps and appear meaty. The tell-tale sign of their toxicity is the pure white gills underneath the cap, Long said.
I can tell this is about food, and not abolitionism, because moral paranoids never tell us how to stay safe.
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motaman
old hand
Registered: 12/18/02
Posts: 6,047
Last seen: 16 days, 3 hours
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Woman poisoned by mushrooms dies [Re: motaman]
#11518331 - 11/24/09 12:04 PM (14 years, 4 months ago) |
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Woman poisoned by mushrooms dies
By Maggie Creamer and Angie Garcia
News-Sentinel Staff Writers
A mother of three passed away Sunday night after eating mushrooms in the Lodi Lake Nature Area on Nov. 8.
Reina Jimenez, 31, died after eating poisonous mushrooms called Death Caps, or Amanita phalloides. The husband of Jimenez, Israel Vega, 32, was also treated for mushroom poisoning and was released Monday, said Inocencia Cruz, who is Jimenez' sister.
The couple have three children: Andrea, 8, Israel, 6, and Roberto, 4, who are staying with relatives in Lodi.
Jimenez' cousin Fidelfa Jimenez, who is in her mid-30s, received a liver transplant Friday and is also recovering. She has two children ages 4 and 12.
The three family members ate the mushrooms and fell ill Nov. 8. Victims can become nauseous and have gastrointestinal problems within two hours after eating the mushrooms. The toxins in the mushrooms attack the liver.
They waited two days before seeking medical attention at Lodi Memorial Hospital's emergency room and were then transferred to California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco.
Reina and Fidelfa Jimenez were both candidates for a transplant, said hospital spokesman Kevin McCormack. He said the damage to Reina Jimenez' liver was too great, and she was not well enough for a transplant.
Fidelfa qualified for a transplant after the hospital signed her up for some form of insurance, most likely a public health insurance program, McCormack said. The hospital needs to make sure patients that receive transplants have insurance, so they will be able to afford the expensive anti-rejection medication for the rest of their lives.
"We want to make sure the people we choose for an organ transplant are able to benefit long-term," he said.
The three family members have lived in Lodi for nine or 10 years after moving from Oaxaca, Mexico. They have picked mushrooms previously from the nature area, Cruz said.
Family friend Erin Herrera said she is helping organize a fundraiser to help the family pay for expenses.
She said there will be boxes placed in Mexican stores around Lodi for people to donate, and there may be a car wash fundraiser later this week.
http://www.lodinews.com/articles/2009/11/24/news/1_mushrooms_091124.txt
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PassiveAgressive
Sleepy-_-kinoko!
Registered: 10/16/09
Posts: 924
Loc: Tueri honorare saltus
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Re: Woman poisoned by mushrooms dies [Re: motaman]
#11519032 - 11/24/09 01:55 PM (14 years, 4 months ago) |
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OMG, my regards go out to the families. This has been a sad story so far. Thank you for the follow-up posting motaman, we all would never have known otherwise.
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(\___/)
(= ‘.’=)
(”)__(”) Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared. - Prince Gautama Siddharta, the founder of Buddhism, 563-483 B.C.
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