Prevention of botulism

Botulism develops due to human body damage by botulinum toxin. Infection is carried out alimentary way, that is, when eating food, which contains poison, usually canned( in translation from the Latin botulus - sausage).

Toxins block the acetylcholine receptors of nerve fibers, which contribute to the transmission of nervous excitation in the central nervous system, which leads to paralysis and paresis.

With botulism, complications such as acute respiratory failure or changes in heart rhythm may develop, so exotoxin is one of the strongest poisons. Prevention of botulism implies compliance with the rules of hygienic rules when preparing food.

How botulism infects

Botulinum toxin, which harms the body, synthesizes a rod. Unsuitable environmental conditions, it carries in the form of a dispute that can exist for decades. Under favorable conditions( temperature up to 35 ⁰С and lack of oxygen), the dispute turns into a vegetative form, which is capable of reproduction, growth, and in the process of vital activity releases toxins.

Spores of bacteria persist for a long time in the soil, as well as the source of clostridia can be animals, birds, freshwater fish, rodents. To their animal carriers, microorganisms do not cause harm. A bacterium with feces is allocated, after which it appears in water, soil.

Infection of the environment with clostridium is also likely when decaying corpses of bacteria carriers( birds, animals).Man is given botulism by a fecal-oral route( through food).Most often, the penetration of the microorganism in the digestive tract occurs after consuming canned home cooking( vegetables, mushrooms, fish, meat), infected with spores of the pathogen.

Clostridia can only pass into the vegetative form in the absence of oxygen, so a necessary condition for the accumulation of botulinum toxin is closed banks. Infection with botulism can occur through open wounds, abrasions and abscesses when sand and soil hit the skin( wound botulism).

How not to catch the disease

Prevention of food botulism is difficult due to the widespread prevalence of botulinum and its resistance to unfavorable conditions. To understand how to avoid botulism, it is necessary to know what conditions for the bacteria are favorable, and which for it are destructive.

The vegetative form of a bacterium dies in boiling water for five minutes to destroy it at a temperature of 80 ° C it will take thirty minutes. That is why the main measure of disease prevention is sufficient thermal treatment of products.

In canned products, the poison can be synthesized for years

It is impossible to get rid of the spores at home, as they remain viable and after a five-hour boiling, they do not collapse during freezing, drying, salt, sugar, and acid are not afraid of them. Destroy them by prolonged boiling( 6 hours), as well as during autoclaving( 120 ° C for 30 minutes).

Prevention of botulism is to prevent the passage of spores into a vegetative form that synthesizes poison, that is, do not store food in an airless environment. It is recommended that products be stored by drying or freezing.

Botulinum toxin degrades at a temperature of 100 ° C, long exists in brines and in food with a large number of different spices. And the presence of poison does not affect the organoleptic characteristics of the product.

Favorable conditions for the formation of poison is a temperature of 20-30 ° C.Do not get sick with botulism can only strictly observe the sanitary and hygienic requirements during the preparation of canned food.

To prevent the development of infection in the preparation of blanks for the winter it is necessary to follow the memo:

• the dishes in which the product will be stored must undergo sterilization. If the lids are made of metal, they also need to be boiled;
• meat and fish products, mushrooms, vegetables should be fresh and thoroughly washed, they should not be left with soil particles. Most often, poisoning occurs after the consumption of fungi, since it is difficult to remove completely sand from them;
• overripe fruit is not subject to conservation;
• at home is not recommended to preserve mushrooms, fish, meat, greens.

Brine recipes should be observed with blanks. A sufficient amount of salt, acid or sugar is required. On 0.1 kg of vegetables should be not less than 10 grams of salt, and when preparing jam for 0.1 kg of berries you need 50 grams of sugar. Acid, salt and sugar are preservatives that do not allow microbes to produce toxins.

It should be remembered that bacteria spores pass into the vegetative form only in the absence of air, so conservation should be stored in a bowl with oxygen access( under capron caps).

Do not buy canned food from the hands of the markets. Even if you tried the suspicious canned food and did not show symptoms of the disease, it does not mean that there are no toxins. In the bank, the poison accumulates unevenly, which is why when a mushroom is consumed by the whole family, symptoms can arise only from one of its members.

Prevention of wound botulism is the surgical treatment of a wounded skin surface

Before opening a jar of canned food, inspect it. If the lid is swollen( bombardment), then you can not use the product. To destroy botulinum toxin, the preform must be boiled repeatedly for 30 minutes before eating.

Thermal treatment of canned food will help protect yourself from botulism and other intestinal diseases. If the food product( fish, meat, sausage) is not to be re-cooked, it should be stored at a temperature of up to 10 ° C.

Since infection with the infection occurs by the fecal-oral route, botulinum preventive measures include disinfecting the laundry contaminated with vomiting or calves from the patient with botulism, as well as boiling the cutlery and dishes in which the contaminated product was.

Botulinum antitoxic serum prophylaxis is administered to people who used the same foods that they ate and fell ill. Before the injection, a sample is made to establish whether there is an allergic reaction to another's protein.

If a rash appears on the skin or other complications occur, then the serum is not used for prophylactic purposes, since intramuscular injection of the drug may have serious consequences, such as Quincke's edema.

If after eating house preparations signs of poisoning with botulinum toxin appear, you need to call an ambulance

. Doctors' advice

Symptoms of the disease appear 4-6 hours after eating contaminated products. Rarely the clinic can show up after 7-10 days. Therefore, if one of the members of the family is diagnosed with botulism, then observation is conducted for 10 days and for those who used the proposed seeded product.

If you notice abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, weakness, visual impairment, or a change in voice, speech or coordination impairment after taking canned foods, you should immediately seek medical help.

The most dangerous complication of botulism is a disturbance of respiratory function and insufficiency of coughing, so in the absence of treatment death may occur within 3-4 hours. Treatment consists in specific and symptomatic therapy.

With the timely treatment of a patient, the normalization of the muscular function occurs two months later. Vision is restored the longest. What are the consequences of botulism in advance to say is very difficult, since many complications may appear against its background, but if the secondary infection has not accumulated, then the symptoms of the transferred disease do not remain.

To protect yourself from botulism, it is enough to follow a number of rules for home canning. Bomb banks can not be opened, it is better to throw them away. If someone in the family is still infected, then it is necessary to carefully monitor their health for 10 days and disinfect all objects on which botulinum spores may have remained( dishes, and if the patient vomited and had diarrhea, then bed and underwear).