RESEARCH ARTICLE
Very Long Persistence of Botulinum Toxin B in a Patient’s Serum
Laurence Delbrassinne1, *, Valeska Laisnez2, Mieke De Weweire3, Jean Vanderpas1, Katelijne Dierick1, Sarah Denayer1, *
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2018Volume: 10
First Page: 187
Last Page: 191
Publisher Id: TOIDJ-10-187
DOI: 10.2174/1874279301810010187
Article History:
Received Date: 13/7/2018Revision Received Date: 23/10/2018
Acceptance Date: 25/10/2018
Electronic publication date: 30/11/2018
Collection year: 2018
open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Background:
Botulinum toxins (BoNT) type A, B, E, F may induce a serious neuroparalytic illness in humans. Botulism can be transmitted via three routes: foodborne, wound and intestinal (in situ toxemia generally observed in infants and/or in immunocompromised adults) botulism.
Case Report:
A case of human botulism type B due to the consumption of an imported dried ham is reported. Laboratory results confirmed the diagnosis using the mouse bioassay and the qPCR method. Botulinum toxin was still detected in the serum up to 29 days after food consumption while it was not detected anymore in the faeces.
Conclusion:
The described case highlights i) prolonged presence of BoNT B in the serum and ii) the risks related to the preparation of artisanal products as well as the importance of an efficient communication to citizens regarding preservation methods of household products.
