Mushroom poisoning in Thailand between 2003 and 2017

The frequent occurrence of mushroom poisoning cases in the wet season in Thailand has long been recognized but has never been quantitatively analyzed. This study aims to analyze mushroom poisoning cases in Thailand between 2003 and 2017 and focused on their association with the rainfall. The results revealed 22,571 cases and 106 deaths in this period. Cases were higher for females than males, adults than children, and agriculturists than people in other occupations. Cases were higher in the northeastern and northern regions than in the central, south, and east regions. There are strong effects of seasonality on mushroom poisoning cases. Over the 15-y period, 17,337 cases occurred in the wet season (May-Sep) compared with 5,234 cases in the dry season (Oct-Apr). The number of monthly poisoning cases were high in men, mature adults, agriculturists, people living in the rural areas and people living in the Northeastern and Northern provinces. Moreover, a strong positive correlation was shown between the number of monthly poisoning cases and the amount of monthly rainfall.