Swiss mushroom pickers face shortage of poison antidote
The public is invited to have all self-picked mushrooms inspected by a mushroom control station; addresses of these local control points can be found at www.vapko.ch.
Keystone-SDA
Select your language
Generated with artificial intelligence.
Listening: Swiss mushroom pickers face shortage of poison antidote
The current shortage of the antidote used to treat mushroom poisoning is problematic. Tox Info Suisse urges amateur mushroom pickers to have all mushroom pickings checked by an official mushroom inspection body.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDA
Français
fr
Cueillette de champignons: contrôles impératifs faute d’antidote
Original
The antidote used in cases of Amanita phalloides poisoning is not available in Switzerland or abroad until at least mid-November, the Tox Info Suisse foundation said on Monday. Other therapeutic options are also limited.
Every year, Tox Info Suisse reports several hundred cases of mushroom poisoning, some of them serious. Mushroom poisoning that is not properly treated can be fatal.
In 2023, Tox Info saw 98 cases of mushroom poisoning documented by doctors (compared with 91 the previous year), including one serious case in an adult, according to the latest data provided to Keystone-SDA news agency. Only one case, of moderate severity, was attributable to Amanita phalloides.
In order to limit the number of potentially serious health problems to a minimum, the public is invited to have all self-picked mushrooms inspected by a mushroom control station. The addresses of these local control points can be found at www.vapko.ch.
In Switzerland the emergency number for poisoning is 145. Specially trained physicians will give advice 24/7 in cases of poisoning with, for example, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, other drugs, poisonous plants, mushrooms or venomous animals.
Translated from French with DeepL/gw
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
Popular Stories
More
Climate adaptation
Why Switzerland is among the ten fastest-warming countries in the world
Train vs plane: would you take a direct train between London and Geneva?
Eurostar is planning to run direct trains from Britain to Germany and Switzerland from the early 2030s. Would you favour the train over the plane? If not, why not?
Rhine could warm by up to 4°C by 2100, scientists warn
This content was published on
The water temperature of the Rhine River could rise by up to 4.2° degrees Celsius by the end of the century due to the warming planet, scientists warn.
This content was published on
The Federal Council wants to explore the possibilities of joining the European Union’s €800-billion rearmament programme without compromising Swiss neutrality.
Defence Minister Pfister stresses importance of Swiss mission in Balkans
This content was published on
During a visit to the Balkans region last week, Swiss Defence Minister Martin Pfister met Swisscoy peacekeeping troops in Kosovo.
Premiere for Swiss Air Force on French National Day
This content was published on
On July 14, the Swiss Air Force will take part in the traditional air parade in Paris to mark the French bank holidays with an F/A-18 fighter jet. This is a first for Switzerland.
Swiss launch competition for memorial to Nazi victims
This content was published on
The victims of Nazi Germany are to be commemorated on the Casinoterrasse in Bern. A competition will be held to determine what the site will look like.
This content was published on
The cantonal police of Graubünden in eastern Switzerland have arrested and convicted five cocaine dealers in Chur within a week.
This content was published on
The Swiss business umbrella organisation Economiesuisse and the employers' association broadly support the package of agreements negotiated with the European Union.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.