Eight cases of botulism from home-made prison hooch
Clostridium botulinum
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Emergency Department Identification and Critical Care Management of a Utah Prison Botulism Outbreak. Williams BT et al. Ann Emerg Med 2013 Dec 12 [Epub ahead of print]
Abstract
Pruno (aka “hooch” or “white lightning”) is a home-brewed alcoholic beverage made by prisoners out of readily available ingredients. Typically, some combination of fruits. water, sugar, and bread are enclosed in an airtight plastic bag and allowed to ferment for several weeks. The resulting concoction has been described as tasting like “vomit-flavored wine-cooler.”
This fascinating observational case series describes 8 inmates in a Utah prison who developed clinical botulism after ingesting pruno made with a potato. Four other inmates who ingested a different batch made without potato were asymptomatic. Seven of the eight symptomatic patients had stool samples positive for type A botulinum toxin.
Patients presented with typical signs and symptoms of botulism: bulbar palsy and symmetric descending muscle weakness. Initial chief complains included dysphagia, dysarthria, diplopia, nausea and vomiting. Three patients required intubation; respiratory parameters heralding the need for mechanical ventilation included decreased negative inspiratory force and decreased forced vital capacity. All patients had persisting symptoms — weakness, fatigue, diplopia, dysphagia — that lasted as long as 14 months.
All 8 patients ...
Source: The Poison Review - Category: Toxicology Authors: Leon Tags: Medical botulism hooch prison pruno utah Source Type: news
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