Chuks Chukuorah: Improperly stored canned food can kill you [Botulism]

There are many things we hardly put into consideration in our everyday lives and these things might be very disastrous to our health. I bought a can of Tomato Paste recently and i discovered it was improperly stored and there are lots of changes in the colour of the tomato paste, not considering the amount of money i spent purchasing the product. Ofcourse i threw it away. I value my health and so should you, thus necessitating the writing of this article.

ABOUT BOTULISM: 
...a disease caused by improperly stored canned foods, could be very fatal to health.

INTRODUCTION: 
Botulism is a paralytic disease that is caused by a gram positive, endospore forming bacteria called clostridium botulinum. The C. botulinum is found in soils and water bodies mostly and it produces spores which would give rise to its offspring under favorable conditions. Unfortunately, these spores also produce the botulinum toxin which is very lethal to humans even in quantities as low as 1 microgram. The conditions required for these to happen are as follows: anaerobic, low-salt, low-acid, ambient temperatures, moisture and a protein source. The botilnum toxin can be neutralized at high temperatures, but the spores are resilient at such temperatures. There are eight known strains of the bacterium and they include strain A, B, (C1, C2), D, E, F, G and H. Types A, B, E  and rarely F cause human botulism while C and D affect animals only. Type G was just recently discovered.

MODES OF ENTRY:

INFANTS: The bacterium gets a relatively nice environment within an infant less than a year, mainly because they lack the intestinal microflora that discourages the growth of the bacteria and they also have low levels of bile acid. This is called the infant botulism. They could get it by taking honey.

FOODS: Improperly canned foods are the major risk factors when it comes to food-borne botulism. There are other rare food mediums that one could get infected example fish.

WOUND: it is seen among intravenous drug users especially those that that inject street drugs example people using black jar heroine. The spores get into the body through the wound and acts in the presence of low oxygen.

INHALATION: this is extremely rare, but could be seen in an inappropriate botox volume taken into the body.

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SYMPTOMS: The classic triad which are bulbar palsy and descending paralysis, clear senses and mental status and lack of fever. In further description they could be stated as drooping of the eyelids, dyspnea, double vision, coma and death.

DIAGNOSIS: This could be done by testing a stool, brain scan, cerebrospinal fluid examination, nerve conduction tests, electromyogram, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, electrochemiluminescent tests and also definite diagnosis could be carried out.

TREATMENT: The contaminated agent could be removed by induced vomiting or enemata and it is heptavalent antitoxin. A ventilator and supportive care could also be needed.

PREVENTION: Avoid giving honey to an infant less than a year old, canned foods should undergo cook for botulinum toxin, tropical foods should be acidified before bottling and in general foods should be stored and preserved meticulously.

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Written by Chuks Chukuorah [Faculty of Pharmacy - EMU]
 Revised and supervised by Ajiboro Temitope [Faculty of Pharmacy - EMU]