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June 1979, Vol 133, No. 6 >
Article | June 1979

Infant Botulism in 1931:  Discovery of a Misclassified Case FREE

STEPHEN S. ARNON, MD; S. BENSON WERNER, MD; HAROLD K. FABER, MD; WALTER H. FARR, MD
Am J Dis Child. 1979;133(6):580-582. doi:10.1001/archpedi.1979.02130060020002.
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The identification in 1976 in California of infants with botulism (for references, see the companion article in this issue, p 586) prompted a review of state records of all 603 officially classified cases known to have occurred in California between 1899 and 1976. None of these cases occurred in an infant; the youngest case found was that of a 15-month-old child who became ill as part of a common-source outbreak of food-borne botulism.

As part of our efforts to elucidate the pathogenesis of infant botulism, we noted that milk products have rarely been associated with food-borne botulism1 even though pasteurization does not kill Clostridium botulinum spores.2 Because milk is the principal food of infants, we therefore undertook in 1978 a further review of all reported food-borne botulism cases linked to milk products. One such case that occurred in California in 1931 was listed as "suspected botulism" in Dr

REFERENCES

1 +
Gangarosa EJ, Donadio JA, Armstrong RW, et al:  Botulism in the United States, 1899-1969 . Am J Epidemiol 93:93-101, 1971;.
2 +
Franklin JG:  Spores in milk: Problems associated with UHT processing . J Appl Bacteriol 33:180-191, 1970;.
3 +
Meyer KF, Eddie B: Sixty-five years of human botulism in the United States and Canada: Epidemiology and tabulations of reported cases 1899 through 1964 . George Williams Hooper Foundation, the University of California at San Francisco, 1965;, p 75.
4 +
Meyer KF, Geiger JC:  Some suggestions concerning the bacteriological diagnosis of human botulism . Public Health Rep 36:1313-1317, 1921;.
5 +
Craig JM, Iida H, Inoue K:  A recent case of botulism in Hokkaido, Japan . Japan J Med Sci Biol 23:193-198, 1970;.
6 +
Fukuda T, Kitao T, Tanikawa H, et al:  An outbreak of type B botulism occurring in Miyazaki Prefecture . Japan J Med Sci Biol 23:243-248, 1970;.
7 +
Midura TF, Arnon SS:  Infant botulism: Identification of Clostridium botulinum and its toxin in faeces . Lancet 2:934-936, 1976;.
8 +
Dowell VR Jr, McCroskey LM, Hatheway CL, et al:  Coproexamination for botulinal toxin and Clostridium botulinum: A new procedure for laboratory diagnosis of botulism . JAMA 238:1829-1832, 1977;.
9 +
Pickett J, Berg B, Chaplin E, et al:  Syndrome of botulism in infancy: Clinical and electrophysiologic study . N Engl J Med 295:770-772, 1976;.

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Country-Specific Mortality and Growth Failure in Infancy and Yound Children and Association With Material Stature

Use interactive graphics and maps to view and sort country-specific infant and early dhildhood mortality and growth failure data and their association with maternal

References

1 +
Gangarosa EJ, Donadio JA, Armstrong RW, et al:  Botulism in the United States, 1899-1969 . Am J Epidemiol 93:93-101, 1971;.
2 +
Franklin JG:  Spores in milk: Problems associated with UHT processing . J Appl Bacteriol 33:180-191, 1970;.
3 +
Meyer KF, Eddie B: Sixty-five years of human botulism in the United States and Canada: Epidemiology and tabulations of reported cases 1899 through 1964 . George Williams Hooper Foundation, the University of California at San Francisco, 1965;, p 75.
4 +
Meyer KF, Geiger JC:  Some suggestions concerning the bacteriological diagnosis of human botulism . Public Health Rep 36:1313-1317, 1921;.
5 +
Craig JM, Iida H, Inoue K:  A recent case of botulism in Hokkaido, Japan . Japan J Med Sci Biol 23:193-198, 1970;.
6 +
Fukuda T, Kitao T, Tanikawa H, et al:  An outbreak of type B botulism occurring in Miyazaki Prefecture . Japan J Med Sci Biol 23:243-248, 1970;.
7 +
Midura TF, Arnon SS:  Infant botulism: Identification of Clostridium botulinum and its toxin in faeces . Lancet 2:934-936, 1976;.
8 +
Dowell VR Jr, McCroskey LM, Hatheway CL, et al:  Coproexamination for botulinal toxin and Clostridium botulinum: A new procedure for laboratory diagnosis of botulism . JAMA 238:1829-1832, 1977;.
9 +
Pickett J, Berg B, Chaplin E, et al:  Syndrome of botulism in infancy: Clinical and electrophysiologic study . N Engl J Med 295:770-772, 1976;.

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