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UNDER CONSTRUCTION. Do not trust this page yet. It's very unprofessional.

Botulism is a deadly disease caused by toxins produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. The botulinum toxin is the deadliest toxin known to man. Yeah, botulism's pretty epic. It causes paralysis (of course, or it wouldn't be on this site). About 2/3 of all people who get botulism will die. So if you survive botulism, you are epic. Also, getting botox doesn't count for being epic. It's just the toxin in a controlled minute amount in a localized part of your body. When I say botulism, I mean the disease that affects your entire body, every muscle.

There are 3 main ways of contracting botulism

Food botulism - for example, if you eat vegetables that have been improperly canned. Botulism likes food with low acidity. It also is anaerobic. Also, being anaerobic and not relying on cellular respiration for ATP means C. botulinum is possibly immune to cyanide. Yet, it can't survive well in oxygen.

Infant botulism - you feed infants honey, they could get this. Botulism spores are in honey, and babies don't have a strong enough digestive system to kill them, so the bacteria will just hang out there and make as much toxin as they please. The baby gets botulism. You get what is called a "floppy baby." If your baby seems weak or floppy, seems to have less muscle tone, is not moving much, or has a weak cry, take him or her to the doctor.

Wound botulism - This is when something sharp that has C. botulinum on it deeply punctures the skin and gets into your bloodstream. You know how tetanus does that sometimes? Well, yeah, so does botulism, but it's much rarer. They're both from the same genus, Clostridium.

There is a botulism anti-toxin that can stop the progression of botulism if given early enough. However, for any symptoms that have already occured, the anti-toxin can't reverse them.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

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