Seven children in hospital after eating poisonous mushrooms

by Wanja Waweru

After eating what was believed to be a dangerous wild mushroom on Tuesday evening, seven children from Haji Farm in Sobukia, Nakuru County, were taken to Bahati Sub-Hospital.

According to reports, the seven who are now sedentary have been eating mushrooms from the farm as usual after school, and after eating they have been sick and vomiting.

According to father of seven Frederic Kamau, mushrooms were their daily meal after a poor harvest last season.

“This is what we usually consume, we don’t have food and sometimes kids bring it while we cook, it’s sad that it affected them in this way,” Kamau said.

He suspects the mushroom may be poisonous, Kamau said, adding that it is difficult to distinguish between what is harmful and what is edible.

“They are fine now, they were vomiting, and it got worse. We had to take them to a dispensary before taking them to Bahati.

One of the children, Kevin Waweru, claimed that before they were taken to the hospital, they started vomiting.

While confirming that this has happened, Bahati Hospital Sub Chief Lucy Kinano states that the children are now stable and will be released soon.

According to Kinanu, plucking any kind of mushroom in the forest without first properly identifying it can leave one unwell and endanger one’s life.]

“Cooking or boiling wild mushrooms does not make them safe to eat, always consult the experts,” said Kinano.