RT Book, Section
A1 Vecchio, Michael Del
A2 Zaoutis, Lisa B.
A2 Chiang, Vincent W.
SR Print(0)
ID 1146124321
T1 Infant Botulism
T2 Comprehensive Pediatric Hospital Medicine, 2e
YR 2017
FD 2017
PB McGraw-Hill Education
PP New York, NY
SN 9780071829281
LK accesspediatrics.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1146124321
RD 2024/04/23
AB Infant  botulism,  the  most  common  form  of  botulism  encountered  in  the  United  States,  has  a  unique  pathogenesis.  Unlike  food-borne  botulism,  which  results  from  the  ingestion  of  preformed  toxin,  infant  botulism  occurs  following  the  ingestion  of  Clostridium  botulinum  spores  that  germinate  and  colonize  the  infant  gut.  Botulinum  neurotoxin  is  produced  in  vivo  and  absorbed,  producing  clinical  disease.  This  form  of  botulism  occurs  almost  exclusively  in  children  younger  than  1  year1.  The  first  clear  association  of  in  vivo  production  of  botulinum  neurotoxin  and  a  syndrome  of  weakness  in  infants  was  described  in  1976.2  Subsequently,  the  pathophysiology,  epidemiology,  clinical  manifestations,  and  specific  therapy  have  been  elucidated.