Prof. Dr. Gündüz “ Mushroom poisonings have become more common recently”

The increase in mushroom poisoning in different parts of Turkey draws attention. While 12 people in Erzurum, 9 people in Gümüşhane and 5 people in Bayburt were treated in hospitals due to the mushrooms they ate in the past days, Prof. Dr. Abdülkadir Gündüz from KTÜ Emergency Medicine Department noted that mushroom poisoning is more intense especially in the Black Sea Region.

Pointing out that mushroom poisonings are seen intensively in the Spring and Autumn period, Gündüz noted that the Black Sea Region has a lot of mushroom variety due to the humid and rainy climate and said, “Mushroom poisonings are experienced every year. Since our region is rainy and humid, our forests and plateaus produce mushrooms at a very serious rate. Black Sea people also consume mushrooms as food at a serious rate. The public health problem is; is it poisonous or not? The issue is not taken into serious consideration. For this reason, every year, not only this year, we accept serious cases of mushroom poisoning in our hospital after the rains in spring and autumn. Since the Emergency Department of our Farabi Hospital is the reference center for mushroom poisoning in terms of regional hospitals, it is the last referral point, so we see more. Since our hospital has a Toxicology unit, poisoning cases come to our hospital.”

Many cases have come recently

Pointing out that the number of cases has increased recently, Gündüz said, “We cannot know whether this is because the weather is wetter and more humid this year. However, more cases have come recently. We even had cases among our hospital staff. We also had patients being treated in intensive care. Fortunately, we did not encounter any death cases,” he said.

It is quite difficult to differentiate.

Stating that it is difficult to distinguish whether the mushroom is poisonous or not, Gündüz said, “It is quite difficult to distinguish between poisonous and non-poisonous mushrooms. Even experts have serious problems in this regard. Our warning to the citizens is that they should not eat the mushrooms they do not know and are not very sure about. The humidity of our region increases the variety of mushrooms. Therefore, as this situation increases consumption, there is an increase in poisoning cases. Autumn and spring are the most common periods.”