clostridium question

[wmc24]

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i was reviewing some micro last night and also came across a question on uw the other day about the mechanism of botulism in an infant. my microcards say that in adults the toxin is preformed in canned foods, honey, ect. it then states that infants create the toxin in their gut (aka not preformed). i had a question on uw the other day with the stem of a floppy baby who had honey mixed in with their formula and the mechanism was that the toxin was formed in the baby's gut. can anyone shed some light on this for me as to why a toxin is preformed in the same jar of honey for an adult but an infant has to make their own toxin to it?? thanks

 

[VPDcurt]

Infants ingest the spores in things like honey. The bacteria then start making toxin in the gut. Adults ingest the preformed toxin in foods they canned themselves...which begs the question - who the hell still cans their own food?

 

[wmc24]

so what if an adult eats honey? thanks for ur quick reply.

 

[tfom08]

so what if an adult eats honey? thanks for ur quick reply.

I believe the difference is that the clostridium can colonize in babies to produce the toxin (so the spores in honey cause disease) but in adults, the clostridium cannot colonize so the spores will not cause disease in adults, only the preformed toxin will. I haven't seen this explicitly stated that I can recall, that is just how I keep it straight in my head.

 

[VPDcurt]

I was going to say the same thing, but I'm not exactly sure either. It makes sense though. I'm just hoping that adults don't eat honey on Step 1.

 

[tfom08]

I have personally never read that honey can lead to botulism poisoning in an adult. Can toxin be formed in honey (since I do not think it is an anaerobic environment)? That would explain the difference.

 

[wmc24]

maybe in homemade canned honey haha. thanks for the help guys

 

[Instatewaiter]

Cant imagine they would make you make the distinction on step 1. Anyone know the answer?

 

[lilnoelle]

Infants ingest the spores in things like honey. The bacteria then start making toxin in the gut. Adults ingest the preformed toxin in foods they canned themselves...which begs the question - who the hell still cans their own food?

Haha, my mom canned lyme pickles, green beans, apple butter and bing cherries until after I went to college (they moved while I was in college and Mom doesn't have a big garden anymore). She also made her own applesauce which we froze, and sweet corn, which we also froze. We'd make enough of all of the above in the summer to last us through till next summer. They also would buy a cow/pig to slaughter and get meat that way rather than through the grocery store. (No, we didn't slaughter it on our own, we'd "buy" it from a neighbor, they'd slaughter it at the slaughterhouse, and it would be our meat.

My parents still have canned and frozen stuff mentioned above that they use.... but I'm not sure if they're just really old or if Mom gets supplies from someone else to make the stuff, cuz she no longer has a garden.

 

[lilnoelle]

Wikipedia says - because the digestive juices of an infant are less acidic than older children and adults, and may be less likely to destroy ingested spores. In addition, young infants do not yet have sufficient numbers of resident microbiota in their intestines to competitively exclude C. botulinum. Unopposed in the small intestine, the warm body temperature combined with an anaerobic environment creates a medium for botulinum spores to germinate, divide and produce toxin. Thus, C. botulinum is able to colonize the gut of an infant with relative ease, whereas older children and adults are not typically susceptible to ingested spores.

 

[hj0517]

isn't it to do with the presence of colonizing bacilli, or the absence of (relatively speaking) in kids? I'm at work but will check MMRS when I go home!

 

[45408]

maybe in homemade canned honey haha. thanks for the help guys

I'm gonna punch the screen if that comes up.

 

[decal]

Cant imagine they would make you make the distinction on step 1. Anyone know the answer?

We had a question on our micro shelf that made us distinguish between ingestion of toxin, bacteria, & spores as the causative agent in infantile botulism, so I guess it's fair game.

 

[Doctor J]

Wikipedia says - because the digestive juices of an infant are less acidic than older children and adults, and may be less likely to destroy ingested spores. In addition, young infants do not yet have sufficient numbers of resident microbiota in their intestines to competitively exclude C. botulinum. Unopposed in the small intestine, the warm body temperature combined with an anaerobic environment creates a medium for botulinum spores to germinate, divide and produce toxin. Thus, C. botulinum is able to colonize the gut of an infant with relative ease, whereas older children and adults are not typically susceptible to ingested spores.

I can easily imagine a question stem with an adult coming down with floppy baby syndrome... who has a history of duodenal ulcer (and is taking omeprazole) and has a recent history of strep pharyngitis (and thus just finished a round of penicillin) who loves to eat peanut butter and honey sandwiches... the parentheticals not provided in the stem...

The more devious I can be when formulating these questions, the easier I spot the gimme's.