KASESE | FAMILY | HOSPITALIZED | MUSHROOMS

A would-be cherished mushroom meal turned poisonous for three family members in Kasese municipality on March 28, 2023.

Little suspecting that the delicacy was poisonous, the family members of Saluti A cell, Nyamwamba division, who feasted on the mushroom soup, were rushed to Mt St Mary’s Hospital for treatment reportedly in critical condition.

Harriet Kabugho, a former district woman councilor representing Nyamwamba division, rushed the trio to the hospital.

According to Kabugho, the victims are Apofia Biira, a 25-year-old pregnant mother, and her two children, Eliza Biira and Bright Muhindo.

Kabugho said that when she reached them, they were vomiting and suffering from diarrhea.

“Being pregnant, yesterday (Tuesday), Biira developed a high appetite for mushrooms, but having no money to buy them from the market, she resorted to picking and cooking what she thought were edible from a tree near her pit-latrine,” Kabugho said.

“The patients are out of danger after receiving specialized treatment,” a medical worker at the hospital said on the phone on condition of anonymity on March 29, as she is not allowed to speak to the media on behalf of the hospital.

Sources close to Biira quoted her as saying she had picked the mushroom that had grown in her compound.

“I have been longing to eat mushrooms, but I could not afford to buy them. So, when the type we ate grew in our compound, I thought we had received a godsend,” she was further quoted as saying.

 Afraid of hospital bills

She allegedly expressed fear of paying the accumulating hospital bills, saying she was failing to contact her husband, a bodaboda rider based in the Bundibugyo district because his phone was off.

She asked well-wishers and partners to help the family both financially and materially. 

Seven of the World's Most Poisonous Mushrooms

· Death Cap (Amanita phalloides) death cap mushroom © Dariusz Majgier/Shutterstock.com. ...

· Conocybe filaris. ...

· Webcaps (Cortinarius species) ...

· Autumn Skullcap (Galerina marginata) ...

· Destroying Angels (Amanita species) ...

· Podostroma cornu-damae. ...

· Deadly Dapperling (Lepiota brunneoincarnata)

If eaten, symptoms include abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea (usually within 30 minutes to two hours of consumption). Less common symptoms include headache, dizziness, sweating, and drowsiness.