Clostridium botulinum poisoning

Clostridium botulinum is present everywhere in our lives, especially in the soil. That is to say, Clostridium botulinum can easily contaminate the food we eat. After people eat food infected with the bacteria, the patient will generally show some symptoms of poisoning within 24 hours. At this time, you should go to the hospital for treatment in time, because the mortality rate caused by the bacteria is relatively high.

Clinical symptoms

Botulism is caused by ingesting food contaminated with botulinum toxin. The incubation period can be as short as a few hours. Symptoms of poisoning usually occur within 24 hours, but sometimes they may not develop until two or three days later. First there are general atypical symptoms such as fatigue and headache, followed by symptoms of eye muscle paralysis such as strabismus and ptosis. Then there are symptoms of pharyngeal muscle paralysis such as difficulty swallowing and chewing, dry mouth, and slurred speech. Then the diaphragm becomes paralyzed, breathing becomes difficult, and finally respiratory arrest leads to death. The mortality rate is high, reaching 30% to 50%, and the recovery of surviving patients is very slow, ranging from several months to several years.

Causes of poisoning

The foods that cause poisoning vary depending on the region and eating habits. Domestic food is mainly plant-based, and is commonly found in home-made fermented foods such as bean paste, noodle paste, and stinky tofu, followed by meat, canned food, pickles, fish products, honey, etc. Xinjiang is a region in my country with a high incidence of Clostridium botulinum food poisoning. There are more than 30 kinds of foods that can cause poisoning, the most common of which are stinky tofu, bean paste, fermented black beans and cereal products. In Qinghai, the main cause is insufficient heating of meat products preserved over the winter.

Control measures

The most effective way to reduce the number of Clostridium botulinum vegetative bodies and spores in food is through heat treatment. The use of high-pressure steam sterilization method to make canned food can obtain "commercially sterile" food. Other heat treatments including pasteurization are effective measures against vegetative bodies. Since this toxin is heat-labile, high-temperature treatment (90°C for 15 minutes or boiling for 5 minutes) can destroy the toxin in suspicious food, making the food theoretically safe. Of course, food suspected of containing botulinum toxin should not be eaten. Adding nitrite and salt to low-acid foods is also an effective control measure. Using nitrite when marinating meat has a very good effect. But it is not just nitrite that plays a role in the meat curing process. Many factors and their interactions with nitrite inhibit the growth of Clostridium botulinum and the production of toxins. Refrigeration and freezing are important measures to control the growth of Clostridium botulinum and toxin production. Low pH, acidification, and reduced water activity can inhibit the growth of C. botulinum in some foods.