Infant botulism

Infant botulism is a potentially fatal disease, caused by neurotoxigenic strain of Clostridium botulinum that colonizes infant’s gut. The incidence of the disease is low, but is probably underestimated in Europe. Every child with progressive hypotonia, constipation and feeding difficulties, but norm...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Zdravniški vestnik (Ljubljana, Slovenia : 1992) Slovenia : 1992), 2013-12, Vol.82 (11)
Main Authors: Anja Radšel, Štefan Grosek, Anamarija Meglič, Damjan Osredkar, Alenka Andlovic
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
acute infant hypotonia
botulinum toxin
Clostridium botulinum
constipation
infant botulism
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Infant botulism is a potentially fatal disease, caused by neurotoxigenic strain of Clostridium botulinum that colonizes infant’s gut. The incidence of the disease is low, but is probably underestimated in Europe. Every child with progressive hypotonia, constipation and feeding difficulties, but normal alertness, should be considered as a possible case of infant botulism. Besides a typical clinical picture, positive microbiological tests are needed to confirm the diagnosis. The specific botulinum toxin antibodies are available for treatment, but they are used only in the most severe cases. We present the first diagnosed case of infant botulism in Slovenia.
ISSN:1318-0347
1581-0224