What Is Botulism?

Botulism causes symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhea and paralysis of the body. Eating vacuum-packed foods that have not undergone a sterilization protocol is a risk factor for contracting the disease.

Do you know how to identify a food capable of transmitting botulism? Do you know the bacteria that causes the disease? This microorganism can appear in any type of food, whether of animal or plant origin, but it needs a lack of oxygen for its growth and proliferation.

Symptoms such as double vision, nausea, vomiting or weakness accompanied by generalized paralysis are indications of an infection caused by the bacteria Clostridium botulinum . Canned foods are responsible for almost all outbreaks, and in this article we explain why.

About the botulism bacteria: Clostridium botulinum

The Clostridium botulinum is a microorganism that is cataloged among the obligate anaerobes, because in addition to not need oxygen to perform its metabolic processes, its existence kills. This means that they are forced to live with low concentrations of gas.

The Clostridium botulinum is a rod-shaped, and another feature that distinguishes many bacteria is its ability to generate spores. This form of sustenance allows it to remain dormant for long periods of time and to become active when the environment is favorable for its growth and proliferation.

The microorganism has varying resistance to oxygen. However, several studies support and agree that it never develops in atmospheres containing more than 10% of this gas.

What makes it dangerous?

Botulinum toxin is a neurotoxin produced by this microorganism, which acts on the myoneural layer of the human body. Thus, it prevents the correct trajectory of the nerve impulse. Its mechanism of action can be understood in three different phases:

1. The toxin’s hydrogen chain binds to receptors on the neuron’s presynaptic membrane. This means that it concentrates its action on the human nervous system.
2. The toxin enters the neuron through an active mechanism similar to that of endocytosis. The neuronal cell admits entry by absorbing the molecule.
3. Inside the neuron, the toxin interferes with the release of acetylcholine. Because it is insufficient, the nerve-muscle junction does not do its job of signaling the contraction of fibers when needed or when a command is sent from the brain.

In conclusion, botulinum toxin, by preventing acetylcholine from leaving the neuron, makes it impossible to excite the muscles. The end result will be a lack of tone and contraction.

Types of botulism

Botulinum toxin will then be the cause of the pathology we know as botulism. There are three basic and different types of Clostridium botulinum infection :

• Through food : mainly through canning, in which the bacteria thrive from lack of oxygen, impregnating the food with the toxin.
• In wounds : by the production of the toxin in contaminated lesions of the skin.
• In children : by ingestion of spores and the subsequent proliferation of bacteria in the infant’s intestine. The highest risk group is children under the age of 2, and this is one of the reasons why it is recommended not to incorporate foods such as honey until they are older. .

Symptoms of botulism

Botulism is expressed in different ways, but its symptoms usually don’t go unnoticed. These include the following:

• Weakness with paralysis on both sides of the body
• Abdominal cramps
• Difficulty speaking and swallowing
• Respiratory problems
• Nausea and vomiting
• Decreased vigilance

After all, the toxin prevents muscle movement, with all the systemic failures that this entails. Therefore, if not treated in time, the patient’s prognosis can be fatal.

Diagnosis and treatment

In order to identify the bacteria, analyzes of the gastric and fecal contents of the patient are carried out, and in these analyzes the presence of botulinum toxin is looked for. Once the poisoning has been identified, the primary treatment is based on immediate respiratory assistance.

An antitoxin is then applied to reverse the potentially fatal effects. The patient is usually intubated for a variable length of time to administer fluids, in cases where the ability to swallow is not quickly restored.

The prognosis is positive as long as the disease is identified early and the patient is kept alive. The availability of the antitoxin and the traceability of cases that may arise among acquaintances, family members, friends or neighbors who have consumed the same contaminated food are also essential.

What to remember from botulism?

Knowing the mechanisms of action of this bacteria and the symptoms of the disease is important, but the main thing is knowing how to prevent it. To accomplish this, various food control protocols have been established for canned foods.

Subjecting canned foods to a temperature of 121 ° C for the set time should be enough to kill bacteria and spores. Prevention of botulism depends, to a large extent, on the compliance of the food industry and home-made products.