[Food-borne botulism and its epidemiological features as seen in our country during the last few years]

Abstract

We evaluated and presented here, the features of the eleven cases of food-borne botulism who admitted to the Infectious Diseases Department of Ibni Sina Hospital of Ankara University. Three of the cases admitted in 1984 and eight of them admitted in 1987. All of the cases were caused by home-prepared foods which had been eaten without cooking; the types of the food were green beans and pepper with sauce. In these cases the main symptoms and signs were generalized muscular weakness, dry mouth, dysphagia, diplopia, ptosis of the eyelids; besides these the other clinical symptoms and signs were seen in some patients. Although toxin couldn't be detected in the patients' sera by mouse-toxin neutralization, the EMG findings supported our diagnoses. To the three patients in the first group, botulinal anti-toxin was not given and two of them died. Anti-toxin was administered to the seven patients in the second group, none of them died.