Survival analysis for respiratory failure in patients with food-borne botulism.

Introduction: Botulism is a rare presynaptic neuromuscular junction disorder caused by potent toxins produced by the anaerobic, spore-forming, Gram-positive bacterium Clostridium botulinum. Food-borne botulism is caused by the ingestion of foods contaminated with botulinum toxin. In March 2006, there was a large outbreak of food-borne botulism associated with the ingestion of home-canned bamboo shoots in Thailand.

Electrodiagnosis of botulism and clinico-electrophysiological correlation.

Objective: An electrophysiological study can help to confirm the diagnosis of botulism. This study was aimed at validating a simple and reliable electrodiagnostic test and at correlating the findings with clinical severity.

Methods: Pre- and post-exercise single supramaximal stimulations (SSSs) were performed in 63 patients with botulism.

Signs and symptoms predictive of respiratory failure in patients with foodborne botulism in Thailand.

We conducted a clinical study of 137 patients with home-canned bamboo shoot botulism at Nan Hospital, northern Thailand. The median age of the patients was 44 years (range = 14-74 years) and 36.2% were male.