Antimicrobial susceptibility of 260 Clostridium botulinum types A, B, Ba and Bf strains and a neurotoxigenic Clostridium baratii type F strain isolated from California infant botulism patients.

Antimicrobial susceptibility of 260 Clostridium botulinum types A, B, Ba and Bf strains and a neurotoxigenic Clostridium baratii type F strain isolated from California infant botulism patients. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2018 Oct 01;: Authors: Barash JR, Castles JB, Arnon SS Abstract Infant botulism is an infectious intestinal toxemia that results from colonization of the infant large bowel by Clostridium botulinum (or rarely, by neurotoxigenic C. baratii or C. butyricum), with subsequent intraintestinal production and absorption of botulinum neurotoxin that then produces flaccid paralysis. The disease is often initially misdiagnosed as suspected sepsis or meningitis, diagnoses that require prompt empiric antimicrobial therapy. Antibiotics may also be needed to treat infectious complications of infant botulism, such as pneumonia or urinary tract infection. Clinical evidence suggests (see included case report) that broad-spectrum antibiotics that are eliminated by biliary excretion may cause progression of the patient's paralysis by lysing C. botulinum vegetative cells in the large bowel lumen and thereby increasing the amount of botulinum neurotoxin available for absorption. The purpose of this antimicrobial susceptibility study was to identify an antimicrobial agent with little or no activity against C. botulinum that could be used to treat infant botulism patients initially diagnosed with suspected sepsis or meningitis, or who ac...
Source: Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy - Category: Microbiology Authors: Tags: Antimicrob Agents Chemother Source Type: research