Eleven members of a family including a 1-year-old were hospitalized in Pennsylvania Friday night after consuming wild, “toxic mushrooms,” said the local authorities. According to a report in CNN, a member of the family in southeastern Pennsylvania’s Peach Bottom Township told authorities they became sick after eating wild mushrooms that one of them “found in the woods … and brought home for dinner,” said Gregory Fantom, spokesperson for the Delta-Cardiff Volunteer Fire Company.

Fantom on Saturday said that the family member who reported the illness walked about a half-mile to a telephone booth to call 911. The 11 were a man, a woman and nine of their children. They ranged in age from 1 to 39, the fire department said.

Speaking to CNN, Laura Taylor, Southern York County emergency medical services Chief said, “It was wild mushrooms, but the hospital would have to confirm the type.”

The fire department and EMS units went to the family Friday night after being told the 11 had “ingested toxic mushrooms and were all ill,” the fire department said in a post on Facebook. The family was moved to WellSpan York Hospital, Taylor told CNN. All 11 patients were treated and released overnight.

Toxic mushrooms produce amatoxins which block the production of essential proteins in liver cells, leading to the death of liver cells. This can cause irreversible liver damage, resulting in acute liver failure which might require a liver transplant if not treated promptly.

Mushrooms from a certain category produce toxins that can cause acute kidney damage. These toxins may take days or weeks to show symptoms and the damage can lead to chronic kidney disease or permanent kidney failure which then requires dialysis or kidney transplantation.

Many toxic mushrooms cause immediate gastrointestinal distress, including severe nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhoea. These symptoms can result in dehydration, electrolyte imbalances and, in extreme cases, shock due to fluid loss.

Some mushrooms have neurotoxins which affect the central nervous system. This leads to symptoms such as hallucinations, confusion, seizures and in some cases, coma. These neurotoxic effects can be dangerous, especially if left untreated.

Ingesting highly toxic mushrooms can lead to respiratory depression where breathing slows down or stops due to the effect of toxins in the central nervous system. It can also result in death.

One of the most dangerous aspects of some toxic mushrooms is that symptoms can be delayed by 6 to 24 hours. This delay often leads to significant organ damage, thereby, complicating treatment.

Certain toxic mushrooms can affect the heart by causing arrhythmias (irregular heartbeat) or cardiac arrest. Toxins that disrupt the nervous system can cause significant changes in heart rate and rhythm, thereby, causing life-threatening complications if not treated immediately.

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