Botulism in all its forms is a serious life threatening illness and requires immediate medical treatment. The sooner you get medical attention, the better your recovery. Call emergency services by calling 911 in North America.
Symptoms of foodborne botulism present 12 to 36 hours after eating contaminated food and include nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, blurred or double vision, slurred speech, drooping eyelids, dry mouth or difficulty swallowing or talking, sudden facial muscle weakness, trouble breathing, and paralysis. Foodborne botulism comes from environments with little oxygen, such as canned and bottled foods and foods fresh from the soil.Symptoms of infant botulism begin with constipation, floppy movements, drooping eyelids, weak cries, drooling and difficulty sucking or feeding, and paralysis. Infants contract botulism via spores that get into the intestinal tract and convert to toxins inside the body. Infants who develop botulism are typically between two to eight months of age and have ingested honey or soil.Symptoms of wound botulism are the same as in foodborne, except you will not have nausea, vomiting, or abdominal cramps. Spores can convert to toxins inside open wounds and are commonly found in cuts you haven’t noticed and intravenous drug users’ injection sites.Botulism does not increase blood pressure or heart rate or cause confusion. You may have a fever if you have wound botulism.;
, Antitoxin is one of the first lines of early defense in fighting botulism. Antitoxin cannot reverse damage already done but can reduce the risk of further complications and nerve damage. Antitoxin is delivered via a slow intravenous infusion.
Antitoxin is derived from horse serum so a skin sensitivity test will be done before administration.
 Because the toxin in botulism weakens muscles to the point of paralysis, you can stop breathing. Medical treatment for botulism therefore usually includes time on a ventilator to help you breathe until the effects of the toxin have cleared your system. This could take several weeks., Medical treatment for foodborne botulism usually involves induced or forced vomiting and medications to cause bowel movements. The goal is to clear the food substance out of your system., Wound debridement is the removal of dead or infected tissue, thereby removing toxins in the wound if you have wound botulism.
Get to a hospital immediately.
Be prepared to receive an antitoxin.
Expect respiratory treatment.
Anticipate vomiting and bowel movements.
Undergo wound cleansing and debridement.
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