Infant Botulism
Infant botulism is the United States the most common form of the disease, infection occurs by germination of spores in the intestine of an infant and has consequences for constipation, general weakness, loss of holding head and feeding difficulty. In the U.S. these symptoms gave the child the name botulism syndrome sloppy baby (baby flaccid).
The origin of the contamination of infants is the ingestion of sweet foods such as honey corn syrup. In fact, the spores of C. Botulinum are widely distributed in the environment and are becoming among the few that can survive in honey. In infants, the gastric juice is devoid of acidity, which combined with a favorable temperature and an anaerobic environment creates an ideal environment for the development of spores of C-botulinum bacteria producing the toxin. While these spores are harmless to adults, due to the acidity of the stomach, they are not destroyed not the underdeveloped digestive system of an infant. It is at this age immaturity of the intestinal bacterial flora and bacterial microbiota does not reside in the gut in sufficient quantity to fight against C. botulinum and destroy. Thus, without an opponent, C. botulinum can settle.
That is why we recommend never giving babies or honey or other sweet product whatsoever until weaning.
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