Botulism: treatment and prevention

In cases when a doctor has a reasonable suspicion of botulism after a survey and examination of the patient, treatment should be administered immediately, even before the diagnosis is clarified and the results of a microbiological, serological and bacteriological study are obtained.

The overwhelming majority of cases require medical supervision of people who have come to a possible source of infection - botulism nowadays can not be cured even with the timely start of treatment, when using modern resuscitation equipment, effective drugs and serological therapy.

The reason for botulism

Everyone should remember that botulism is a disease caused not by a microorganism( it can be quite painless to live in the large intestine of a healthy person), but a toxin produced by a botulinum stick in an environment with insufficient oxygen content with it.

That's why it is believed that the most frequent cause of the development of the disease is the use of canned food in which there is a causative agent of botulism.

The most dangerous are:

• canned mushrooms, especially prepared from forest mushrooms;
• canned meat, as well as sausages, ham, corned beef, not subjected to heat treatment during cooking, and hermetically sealed before use;
• canned fish and products made from fish.

In addition, the possibility of developing botulism when entering an open wound of soil contaminated with spores is not ruled out - that's why surgeons never make suturing of wounds received in community settings, later than 6 hours after their receipt or when soil or content gets into themintestines.

Botulism Disease - Features of

Development A person can not be harmed by vegetative forms or spores of the pathogen - only botulinum toxin, which is actively absorbed into the blood in the small intestine, is dangerous.

The severity of the symptoms of the disease and the time from ingestion of the product containing botulinum toxin depend on the dose of this substance and the individual susceptibility of the patient's body, which is why some people show symptoms of the disease much more than others, even if they use the same productspower supply.

The main symptom of the disease is spreading paralysis, which eventually causes the development of increasing respiratory failure and the occurrence of inflammatory diseases of the respiratory system( severe pneumonia) - these conditions in the vast majority of cases cause the patient's death in the event that the treatment was not started in a timely manner.

The consequences of this disease are the stronger, the earlier after eating contaminated food the patient has symptoms of the disease.

Botulism - treatment of

Despite the fact that the cause of the disease is a pathogenic anaerobic organism, for its treatment of great importance is not only the intake of medicines, but also the sister process in botulism, providing for the organization of nursing a patient.

Botulism treatment includes:

1. Purpose of gastric gastric lavage and high siphon enemas with compulsory use of 5 % solution of edible soda( sodium bicarbonate) - alkaline solution accelerates the decomposition of toxins in the intestine. In addition, the purpose of enterosorbents - enterosgel, activated carbon - is indicated.
2. To bind and neutralize the toxin circulating in the blood, anti-botulinum serum is injected according to the Bezredko method. If an analysis was performed, intravenously injected monovalent serum corresponding to the type of pathogen detected. In those cases when the analysis was not carried out, its result is not expected, but the polyvalent serum corresponding to the types of pathogen most often detected in the locality is administered by the same method.
3. For the destruction of vegetative forms, which may represent a hypothetical hazard, antibacterial preparations of a wide spectrum of action are administered orally, at doses prescribed by a physician.
4. If necessary, immediately prescribe the conduct of detoxification therapy and resuscitation, including artificial ventilation.

Botulism - prevention of the disease

The main preventive measure is the refusal to consume suspicious canned food - with bloated lids. In addition, it is desirable to re-heat any household canned food prior to consumption.

Botulism