First confirmed case of infant botulism in Africa, caused by a dual-toxin-producing Clostridium botulinum strain

First confirmed case of infant botulism in Africa, caused by a dual-toxin-producing Clostridium botulinum strain

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Botulism, a rare life-threatening toxemia, is probably underdiagnosed in all of its forms in Africa.This study yale law school colors reports the first laboratory-supported case of infant botulism on the African continent.A 10-week-old, previously well infant presented with progressive global weakness, feeding difficulty, and aspiration pneumonia.During a lengthy hospitalization, a rare bivalent Clostridium botulinum strain, producing subtype B3 and F8 toxins and with a new multilocus sequence type, was isolated from stool.The infant was successfully treated with a heptavalent botulinum antitoxin infusion and pyridostigmine.

Despite the relative rarity life extension blueberry extract of infant botulism, this case illustrates the importance of maintaining a high level of clinical suspicion when assessing hypotonic infants.The value of modern diagnostic modalities in identifying and characterizing this under-recognized condition is also demonstrated.