The mushroom poisoning in Vic.... I am gripped - Part 2

[ImustLearn2Cook]

Hi everyone, Aussie Mumsnetter here. As some have requested a new thread be started by an Aussie I decided to do it.

I am still gripped by this case and like many, I am awaiting updates of new information.

Will a matching donor for a liver for Ian be found soon? I hope he makes a full recovery.

Will he be able to shed new light on the lunch they all shared?

And of course is she guilty of deliberately poisoning them or was it an innocent mistake?

In case anyone's interested:

Oh thanks! Is that the one posters were discussing upthread?

Thank you for the link, @velvetandsatin. I find that programme very difficult to watch, in general, and I'm afraid this episode is no exception. I haven't the patience to get past the annoyance factor to see if they have anything new/of interest to say.

Yes, it is.

This is a bit random and I did not think I'd be posting on this thread (although I've been reading it intermittently) but I just saw this in the Guardian and - as I was wincing in disgust - I thought, I know a bunch of people who would like to read this.

Connections - foraging, Australia, ghastly consequences.
My advice to all Australians would have to be, don't eat ANYTHING anyone tells you they've foraged. Ok?

‘Oh my God’: live worm found in Australian woman’s brain in world-first discovery | Health | The Guardian

crikey.

If that's in response to the brain-worm, it's milder than mine was. 😣
...oh, oh, oh my fucking god no, that's horrible, that's disgusting, oh...

I debated whether to read it or not, and now I wish I hadn't. It's fascinating and terrifying.

Anything like that makes me wish there was human wormer I could buy for major worms like that. We've all eaten dirt accidentally falling off a bicycle or stroked someone's cat then ate crisps without washing our hands, as children. I hate the thought that some parasite could be lurking inside me somewhere. 🐛🤮

Yes, I find things like that horribly horribly fascinating. Poor woman.
Never forage though. Not worth the risks.

Media Watch talked about this programme tonight. According to the analysis, you didn’t miss much.

I listened to the programme whilst I was working. I figured it was mainly using stock footage so I didn't need to 'see' it. Since the channel was called Sixty Minutes Australia, I was expecting it to be similar to the BBC Sixty Minutes but it's not like that at all. I did like the mushroom expert and the psychologist. I thought the latter did a very good job of debunking the preconceived ideas around being able to tell if someone is lying or upset, and how the media filming someone has a massive impact on their reactions. All in, it was interesting as a summary of the facts.
It was telling that the presenter suggested there might never be any definitive outcomes but the former detective was certain that the police would find out what happened. The American case they cited seemed to show that people can be charged and sent to prison even if the police don't know how the poison was given to the victim. That was quite shocking to me. Although maybe there were other facts the programme didn't cover.

They found a dead worm in my dads brain in the 70s. Caused him to have seizures. Not in Australia.

@HaveYouHeardOfARoadAtlas oh my god your poor dad. Did he recover OK? How do they think it got there?

It was a round worm, my parents had a dog who had had worms so they think he probably ingested worm eggs from the dog. The worm was left in his brain (was found on a scan). He had occasional seizures all his life/was diagnosed with epilepsy……the doctors at the time said the worm caused the epilepsy. I’m not sure if current medical thinking would still say that as it sounds a bit odd but I’m no expert.

Just watched the 60 min documentary on YouTube. First time I’ve seen the infamous media interview by the car with the no tears crying. Can’t work out if the excess blinking is nerves, lying or trying to make herself produce tears.

With roundworm, it was probably 'Encysted'- rather than an adult worm.

What is truly gross, I was worming my dog every three months {England}, {per vet's advice} and she passed a live adult roundworm- We marched off to vets immediately, I wanted to know why the expensive wormer wasn't working.

Seems dogs need Monthly wormers, especially if younger.

Cats too need worming.

All wormers do is clear out any adults present- there is no residual effect.
So- Dog could be infected with an egg from the soil two days after being wormed and bam! It starts again.

Monthly wormers stop adults developing.

Very worryingly heart and lungworm and tongue worm is being brought in to new countries from the trade in overseas 'Rescue' dogs - Including a very nasty tapeworm capable of infecting human brains.

Me too! As children none of us washed hands properly, and I used to give our cat licks of my ice cream -
Parasites have quite complex life cycles.

Radio 4 {BBC} years ago had a medical programme where a 70 yr old woman had severe weight loss.
It was found she had a monster many metres long Sturgeon tapeworm living in side of her that she'd been infected with as a child in Russia.

She'd lived in peaceful existence with this parasite for decades.

Anyway- a specific wormer was given, and bye bye 👋 tapeworm.

We should all just be given a pile of wormers to kill everything once we reach say 20 year old and can be more sensible about hygiene so as not to reinfect ourselves. I'd feel a lot happier!

I remember a poster in here many years ago who said she wormed her kids every month same as the dog.

🤢
Urgh, I feel like I should worm the kids.
I was just celebrating the summer holidays facilitating a decent nit free spell.

From what I gather, roundworms are very rare in children- it's threadworms that are common, and surely your children would know if they had those-

The drugs are very worm specific- and worms are host specific.

Re headlice- yes, summer hols were great for zero infection when DS was at school. Being a boy, he opted for a ''Louse freezer'' haircut very short all over, but for girls it must be much harder.

I know as have caught them myself at school.

There is always some child at school passing on headlice -I used to feel that the whole school needed a sheep dip, and every kid should be dunked under - but there are families who don't treat the whole family- and so it goes on.

Kids in some parts of the world pass enormous worms - some doctors travel through villages giving wormers and the kids show the worms they pass in buckets- it's really shuddersome.

Areas where hand washing is rare due to lack of clean water, and where human faeces are in fields where crops are grown.

Even King Richard the lll {England} was found to have a gut full of roundworm - the eggs were still in the soil centuries later!

Worms fit for a king. 👑

Mebendazole (ovex) the over the counter treatment for threadworms, treats roundworm and tapeworm too if anyone is really worried.

Do be careful about overworming though please, many worms are developing resistance to many commonly used worming drugs, it is far better to do a FEC (poo egg count) prior to any worming for any animal, and I guess that includes humans.

This is true- probably why the vet recommends 3 monthly worming rather than monthly- But after my 2 yr old Whippet passed a live roundworm - I'm doing monthly. Especially as she sleeps on my bed.
I saw her eat a cat turd on a walk, and vet thinks it could have been that- many cat owners don't worm their cats- and vets ''see the worms moving in the gut while operating'' - urgh.

But I read online about resistance to worming meds in all animals.

Back to the Mushroom topic- any more news about Patterson? Has the fourth person poisoned rallied at all?

Just off to google.