Botulism is a rare and fatal paralytic illness affecting millions of people around the world. The disease occurs due to a poisonous neurotoxin released by an anaerobic, spore-forming, rod-shaped bacterium known as Clostridium botulinum.

There are three different forms of botulism, which include food borne, wound and infant botulism. In the United States, around 72 percent of cases reported is of infant type, 25 percent is food borne and the remaining is wound botulism.

Symptoms

Symptoms of botulism in adults appear within 12-48 hours of eating contaminated food. In case of infants, these symptoms occur within 3-30 days after ingesting bacterial spores. In case of wound botulism, symptoms appear within 4-14 days after the injury. The toxin primarily affects the nervous system by blocking the presynaptic release of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. As a result, messages from the nerves are not transferred to the muscle, thereby preventing muscle stimulation. Initial symptoms of it include blurred vision, drooping eyelids, dry mouth, dilated pupils, constipation, abdominal pain and weakened muscles. Death occurs due to paralysis of breathing muscles, resulting in respiratory failure.

Diagnosis

The most common method of diagnosis is through physical examination. However, symptoms of botulism are usually similar to other diseases such as Guillain-Barre syndrome, paralytic shellfish poisoning, stroke, polio myelitis, tick paralysis, Lambert-Eaton syndrome and Myasthenia gravis. As a result, physicians often get confused. Diagnosis of the disease is demonstrated through identification of botulinum toxin in the blood. Stool examinations help in locating the presence of bacteria and its spores that are excreted through the feces. In case of wound botulism, wound exudates are used as specimens for laboratory testing.

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Pauline Go is a professional writer for many website like http://www.babyboomercaretaker.com - She also writes other great articles like Baby Boomers Aging Needs, Ten Most Popular Cosmetic Surgical Procedures, Inheritance Issues With Step Children.

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