mine have had it from birth, they are fine and love honey. i see it as a natural food so i cant see how it will hurt them?
Odd logic. Just because your sample of X children have never suffered doesn't mean their is not a risk. Probably they have never been smacked by a speeding car either but that doesn't mean their isn't a risk.
The undeveloped guts of an infant are insufficient to protect them from botulinum spores which may start to replicate in the gut lining. The chances are relatively low although their was a cluster of cases earlier this year.
From the web: "Infant botulism is a potentially life-threatening disease in which the bacteria Clostridium botulinum grows within the baby's gastrointestinal tract."
A good place to look for more information is the Health Protection Agency.
http://www.hpa.org.uk/Topics/Infect...botu020InfantBotulismLaboratoryreportedcases/
You'll see from the link it's very rare, although a number of cases occurred earlier this year I believe. The evidence seems pretty inconclusive to guarentee the source of spores was honey, and infants over 6 months seem to have a level of protection.
Found what I was looking for. From the HPA website. Nasty stuff if you read it through to the end, although I would say not absolutely conclusive, it certainly seems to make a link and I wouldn't feed it to my children. Sadly, they don't comment on the origin of the honey.
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Third case of infant botulism associated with consumption of honey within a year
There has been a recent confirmed case of botulism in a 15 week old infant with a history of honey consumption. This is the third case of infant botulism associated with honey consumption reported to the HPA since August 2009 and raises concerns that health warnings advising against feeding honey to infants less than one year of age are not being followed.
Infant botulism is a rare disease in the UK, only eight cases having been reported up until the end of 2008. This illness occurs when infants, less than one year old, ingest spores of C. botulinum which, due to the immaturity of the infant gut flora, are able to germinate and produce toxin in the intestinal tract. Botulinum neurotoxin is absorbed through the intestine into the circulation and binds at its target site, the neuromuscular junction, blocking release of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine leading to flaccid paralysis. Typically the first clinical sign of illness in infants is constipation, defined as three or more days without a bowel movement, followed by lethargy, difficulties in feeding, generalised muscle weakness and weak cry.
Treatment for infant botulism includes human derived botulism immunoglobulin (babyBIG®, which is available from the Infant Botulism Treatment and Prevention Programme in California, USA), together with respiratory and nutritional supportive care. Administration of babyBIG® should be prompt and not delayed for laboratory confirmation of diagnosis as it neutralises free toxin preventing it binding to the neuromuscular junction. Early treatment with babyBIG® has been shown to reduce length of time in paediatric intensive care as well as overall length of hospital stay: it has been used to treat two previous cases of infant botulism in the UK
In 2009 two cases of infant botulism were reported in the UK – occurring in August and September, in England and Scotland respectively [1]. In both cases infants had a history of being fed honey. In the second case, the same type of C. botulinum was detected in honey consumed by the infant as was isolated from faecal specimens. In mid-May this year, a third confirmed case of infant botulism with a history of honey consumption was reported. A 15 week old male infant was admitted to a regional hospital on 12 May with lethargy, irritability, poor feeding and a history of constipation. The diagnosis of infant botulism was confirmed by PCR detection of C. botulinum Type E neurotoxin (BoNT E) genes in faecal specimens incubated in cooked meat broth medium. Botulinum Type E neurotoxin is a rare cause of infant botulism being reported in only seven cases throughout the world. Interestingly, BoNT E can be produced not only by C. botulinum but also by Clostridium butyricum and six of the seven reported cases have been caused by C. butyricum expressing a BoNT type E gene. Full identification of the clostridial species from the most recent UK infant botulism case is currently under way.
Infant botulism is a rare disease in the UK and three reported cases in less than one year is highly unusual. The increase in cases may be due to improved recognition of symptoms by clinicians although in all cases infants were symptomatic for several days before infant botulism was considered as a possible diagnosis. Although C. botulinum spores are widely distributed in soil and dust, all three cases had a history of honey consumption which is the main dietary risk factor for infant botulism. To lower the risk of infant botulism in the UK it is important that advice against feeding any honey to infants less than one year of age is provided and followed by those with responsibility for infants of this age group.
Further information on infant botulism and specimen and sample testing can be obtained from Dr Kathie Grant at the Laboratory of Gastrointestinal Pathogens, Centre for Infection on 020 8327 6505. Information on the supply of babyBIG® is available from the Infant Botulism Treatment and Prevention Programme, California (
http://www.infantbotulism.org/).
Reference
1.Anon (2009). Two cases of infant botulism associated with the consumption of honey. Health Protection Report 2009; 3(46), http://www.hpa.org.uk/hpr/archives/2009/news4609.htm#honey."