Botulism is a rare poisoning that is caused by toxins produced by the bacteria Clostridium botulinum. This condition can be dangerous and needs emergency medical care. It can happen in infants and can be spread in food or infect a wound. Botulism caused by food can start between 12 and 36 hours after the toxin enters your body. The symptoms of food botulism include Dry mouth, facial weakness on both sides of the face, blurred or double vision, difficulty in swallowing or speaking, paralysis, drooping eyelids, difficulty in breathing, nausea, abdominal cramps, and vomiting.
Some people who consume beer will want to know if they can get botulism from drinking beer, but you can’t get botulism that way. The growth of Clostridium botulinum requires that boiled wort is stored in a sealed container that is not beer. There is no incident of botulism being contacted as a result of drinking beer.
Since botulism can quickly kill someone within three days, when you are brewing beer, ensure that the wort is pitched a day after it is made. That way, the pH of the fermenting beer can be reduced to 4.6, and you will be safe to consume it.
What is botulism?
Botulism is a very chronic illness that botulinum toxin causes. The botulinum toxin can paralyze you, and paralysis usually begins from the face before it spreads to other parts of your body. If the paralysis gets to your breathing muscles, you may experience respiratory failure, and it’s fatal.
Clostridium botulinum (C.botulinum) is a kind of bacterium that produces the toxin that can paralyze you.
All cases of botulism are very chronic and can lead to paralysis too, that is why they are urgently treated as medical emergencies. It usually used to be very serious when antitoxins were not available, but now that they are, things have improved very well.
In 2015, in the United States that there was a botulism outbreak that was caused by home-canned potatoes that were distributed at a potluck meal.
What are the symptoms of botulism?
The symptoms of botulism are usually based on the type of botulism that you have.
For wound botulism, the nerves that link the brain to the spine, called the cranial nerves, first experience the symptoms of botulism. From the cranial nerves, it begins to spread to other parts of the body. It usually takes 4 to 14 days before the incubation period ends.
For food-borne botulism, the symptoms you will notice are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, and abdominal distention. You may also experience difficulty in breathing and weakness. You will experience these symptoms after about three hours to eight days of eating the contaminated food.
The neurological symptoms of adult, foodborne, and wound botulism are similar, but the signs of wound botulism usually take a long period before it starts to show. When the symptoms of wound botulism become visible, you may experience double or blurred vision, dry mouth, dysphagia, speech slurring, weak muscles, difficulty swallowing, and eyelids drooping
After that, paralysis will appear, and if it is not treated, your breathing muscles will also get affected by paralysis, which will eventually result in respiratory failure that could lead to death. During this period, you will still be conscious.
The symptoms of infant botulism include flat facial expression, lethargy and listlessness, constipation, poor feeding, lousy temper, excessive drooling when feeding, sagging eyelids, respiratory difficulties, slow or improper reflexes, weak crying, floppiness and poor muscle tone, no gag reflex, unfocused eyes, and weak sucking. The incubation period for infant botulism can last from 3 days to 30 days.
What are the causes of botulism?
The toxic bacterium called Clostridium botulinum can primarily found in soil and untreated water, and it can love in these environments as a resistant spore. You should also be aware that Clostridium botulinum produces spores that can live in poorly preserved or canned foods; when they love here, they make a toxin that can affect the health of humans negatively if they consume those foods. Humans can suffer from terrible poisoning of this bacterium even if they consume a small amount of it.
So, what causes botulism? Check them out below.
Food-borne botulism is caused by consuming foods that have botulinum toxin in them.
Wound botulism is caused when Clostridium botulinum enters an open wound and produces toxins within the injury. Wound botulism is very common among injection drug users.
Infant botulism is caused when an infant consumes the bacteria or their spores. This will now go ahead to grow in his guy. In the U.S., infants contact infant botulism from consuming honey or corn syrup. Another way is also through the stool of an infant.
There is another condition called adult intestinal colonization. It happens when the bacterium colonizes the digestive tract of an adult.
A case of an overdose of botulism toxin is called latrogenic botulism.
How can you prevent botulism?
- If you want to avoid contacting wound botulism, you must get urgent medical attention for any infected wounds. You should also not try to inject yourself with street drugs.
- Learn to practice excellent food hygiene to prevent yourself from contacting food-borne botulism. Don’t consume improperly canned foods because the toxin can thrive in improperly canned foods. Always make sure you adhere to the instructions regarding canning foods at home, or you should avoid canning foods at home. Also, as a way of protecting yourself, boil home-processed foods for at least 10 minutes before eating, whether you see signs of food spoilage or not. Dispose of cans that are leaking, bulging, or damaged. Avoid tasting canned foods to see if they are still suitable for consumption. For baked potatoes, preserve them in foil hot until you want to eat them. Let all your foods be well-cooked before you eat them.
- For infants that are not up to one year, don’t allow them to consume honey or corn syrup.
- Preserve herbs or oils that are infused with garlic in the refrigerator.
Boiling can destroy the non-spore and vegetative form of the bacterium and also the toxin it produces. Ensure you boil for at least ten minutes to kill the poison but to destroy the spore from you need to heating for about 248 degrees Fahrenheit or 120 degrees Celsius, under pressure, for about thirty minutes a pressure cooker or autoclave. You are doing this because spores are very resistant to harsh environments, and even after plenty of hours of normal boiling, they can remain. You can only use high temperatures to get rid of them completely.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the five keys to safer foods are:
- Not combining your raw foods with cooked foods.
- Keeping your foods clean.
- Cooking your foods thoroughly.
- Preserving your foods at safe temperatures.
- Using safe water and raw materials.
Those traveling to countries that lack clean water and refrigeration facilities, ensure you are careful or carry necessary foods or facilities to help you consume safe foods.
You cannot always prevent botulism sometimes. The toxin can even be found in house dust after cleaning. If you are a parent and you notice any sign of sickness in your child, take prompt action before the situation gets worse.
The common tainted foods you can find this toxin in are: home-canned vegetables, raw or smoked fish, cured pork and ham, honey, and corn syrup
You can’t find botulism growing in acidic foods that have a pH of 4.5 or less.
How is botulism diagnosed?
Infant botulism is diagnosed after taking a sample of the infant’s stool or a specimen of enema, and if the doctor suspects botulism, treatment commences immediately with an antitoxin. A lab test is also used to confirm the presence of botulism. Some symptoms of botulism are myasthenia gravis, stroke, and Guillain-Barre syndrome.
The diagnostic tests may include electromyography, a brain scan, cerebrospinal fluid examination, and an edrophonium chloride test for myasthenia gravis.
If the doctor finds the toxin in the feces, vomit, stomach, food, or intestinal contents, a definitive diagnosis can be made. Some chronic cases of botulism can even be detected in the blood.
How can botulism be treated?
Cases of botulism require patients to be admitted to the hospital. For infants with botulism, they are given Botulism Immune Globulin Intravenous-Human, also called BIG-V or BabyBIG.
For patients whose botulism has reached the stage of respiratory issues, they will be on a ventilator, and they will remain there for weeks or months. They are also placed on intensive nursing. After a while, the paralysis will improve.
Before the diagnostic test is out, a patient suspected of botulism is administered injections of antitoxins.
For an infection that comes from a wound, the wound is treated surgically. Debridement is also conducted; this is where the area around the wound is removed. To also prevent any secondary infection, antibiotics are prescribed to the patient too.
What are the complications that could result from botulism?
Infant botulism usually has no long-term effects. For cases where respiratory failure happens, botulism can result in death.
For severe cases of botulism, a patient will need to use a breathing machine, and intensive nursing care will be required for months. Also, fatigue and shortness of breath may persist for years.
Because of the complications of some cases of botulism, other sicknesses may develop, and they can be severe.
With the use of antibodies and antitoxins, patients with paralysis can recover from botulism. These antibodies and antitoxins will neutralize the toxins. The antitoxins will not treat paralysis that is already there.
Is it safe to drink a dented can of beer?
It is safe to drink a dented can of beer. Just make sure you maintain the standard brewing practices.
You should also be aware that beer contains a percentage of alcohol that inhibits the growth of C.botulinum.
It is very safe to drink from a dented can of beer as long as it is not pierced. Even if there is a hole in the can, the beer will still be safe for consumption; it will only lose its carbonation.
What can happen if you get botulism?
When you have botulism, some of the symptoms you will start to see are the muscles’ weakness that controls the throat, mouth, face, and eyes. The fault then spreads to other parts of the body. The symptoms of botulism are unique to the type of botulism you have, whether it is food-borne, wound, or infant botulism.
Another major thing that can happen when you have botulism is respiratory failure that can eventually lead to your death.
So, when you start to notice the symptoms of botulism, don’t wait for too long trying to self-medicate; quickly see a doctor, or go to the hospital’s emergency department.
What kills botulism?
You can quickly kill botulism toxin by heating to an internal temperature of 85 degrees Celsius for about ten minutes; this will decontaminate the affected drink or food.
For foods that are contaminated, they should be destroyed, so consumers don’t consume them and submitted to public health authorities for testing.
Boiling can kill the vegetative forms of bacteria, but even after boiling, the spores will remain. Commercial canning can kill spores; they use high temperatures for foods.
Refrigeration temperatures and salt content with other acidic conditions will hinder the growth of the bacteria and toxin production.
Usually, commercially canned foods are treated to get rid of spores. Their control methods inhibit the growth of the toxins.
The growth of C.botulinum in foods is limited through Food preservatives, temperature, pH, water activity, Redox potential, and competing microorganisms.
For those who engage in home canning, they should be made to adhere to strict hygienic procedures to prevent contamination of foods. These people should be enlightened about the pressure, proper time, and the required temperature to kill spores, the need to refrigerate incompletely processed foods adequately, and the importance of boiling to kill botulinum toxins.
Conclusion
Botulism is caused by the Clostridium botulinum bacteria, which is an uncommon poisoning. You cannot get botulism by consuming beer, and it is safe for you to drink beer from a dented can of beer.
If you engage in home canning of foods, ensure you are very careful during the process to don’t end up poisoning yourself or others that consume your food with botulism. Follow all the strict instructions for canning foods.
High temperatures can kill botulism and spores. Ensure you maintain these high temperatures consistently when home canning so your foods can be safe for consumption.
Call the attention of your doctor where you notice symptoms of any botulism.