UKC

A friend is very poorly with nausea/vomiting etc after picking the last (moldy) toms in a neglected polytunnel. I'm thinking this is due to mycotoxins rather than my cooking?

Has anyone else had confirmed mold issues? or can recommend natural treatments (charcoal and garlic good apparently)?

My understanding is that in a healthy person it's not an issue, there's mold around us all the time

not heavy exposure like this tho..

think i got sick once from mold growing from a little used tap outlet..

As a nurse I've had to treat children with suspected infections of this kind. Definitely see your GP, today!

that's what i suggested but her doctor in england and we're in wales

If your friend is that poorly, they should see a GP now as suggested above. It might get better - or it might get worse. It could be simple irritation, a mycotoxin, an allergic response or an infection. Act now...

<edit>

then go to A&E

thanks, will certainly press her to see GP if no improvement by tomorrow.

Yes there are millions of fungal spores in the air on a normal day and yes a person with a fully competent immune system can clear them effectively from their lungs so as to not be at risk of an infection. relatively few people succumb to invasive fungal diseases and most of those are immunocompromised in some way.  Unfortunately there are many diseases associated with fungal exposure. Allergic diseases can be an issue if you are suddenly exposed to large quantities of spores and there have been cases of people dying after turning over their compost bins. Sensitisation can occur if from persistent exposure to high levels. And aside from these you have fungal toxins to deal with, some of which are seriously bad.

You can't really be sure what it is that's causing the illness, all sorts of things like decomposing fruit and it's a pretty long shot to guess that it's the fungi on the tomatoes.

There are some good natural treatments.  They've been developed, trialled, refined and approved as medicines.  They're available following a consultation with a GP or similar, and a local one can be consulted if you're away from home.

Given what's been said about how serious this might be, stop looking for the best flavour of homeopathic water and go find a medical professional.

Apologies if this is a little too terse for you but if you're concerned enough about it to post on here, then you should be concerned enough about it to seek qualified advice.

T.