Clinical manifestations of chronic exposure to organic mercury usually have a gradual onset. As the primary target is the nervous system, chronic mercury exposure can cause symptoms such as fatigue, weakness, headache, and poor recall and concentration. In severe cases chronic exposure leads to intellectual deterioration and neurologic abnormality. Recent outbreaks of bovine spongiform encephal...

The clinical features of 49 children who had eaten bread contaminated with methylmercury in rural Iraq were reviewed. Symptoms and signs relating to the nervous system-varying degrees of ataxia, weakness, and visual and sensory changes-dominated the clinical picture. The severity of poisoning was related to the blood mercury concentration, as was the degree of recovery. Follow-up over two years...

A3-year-old boy presented to the Hospital for Sick Children with systemic symptoms and oropharyngeal and peripheral extremity changes suggestive of Kawasaki disease. He was found to have severe hypertension. Investigation for a catecholamine-secreting tumor was negative. Toxins were considered when the patient's 20-month-old brother presented with similar symptoms, and the boys were subsequentl...