PEDIATRICS Vol. 92 No. 1 July 1993, pp. 151-153
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Infant Botulism at 1 Week of Age: Report of Two Cases

ELIZABETH H. THILO MD1, SUSAN F. TOWNSEND MD1, and JANE DEACON RN, NNP, MS2

1 Dept of Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine and The Children's Hospital, Denver
2 The Children's Hospital, Denver

Since it was first described in 1976,1,2 infant botulism has become a well-described clinical syndrome caused by the ingestion of Clostridium botulinum spores which germinate in the intestine of young infants and elaborate neurotoxin.3 After the toxin is absorbed into the circulation it is carried to and blocks irreversibly the peripheral cholinergic synapses throughout the body, most importantly at the neuromuscular junction. The clinical syndrome in infants includes poor feeding, dysphagia and drooling, constipation, hypotonia, weakness, and, in severe cases, flaccid paralysis with respiratory compromise. Ninety-four percent of affected infants are younger than 6 months of age, the median being 10 weeks, with only one case reported prior to 2 weeks of age.5,6

Submitted on November 9, 1992
Accepted on January 19, 1993




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L. Tseng-Ong and W. G. Mitchell
Infant Botulism: 20 Years' Experience at a Single Institution
J Child Neurol, December 1, 2007; 22(12): 1333 - 1337.
[Abstract] [PDF]