Doctors have issued a stern warning to parents about giving honey to infants after a two-month-old baby suffered a seizure and was hospitalized with a little-known disease that almost killed him.
In his TikTok series “New Fear Unlocked,” which focuses on real-life medical horror stories, Dr. Samuel Chowdhury says that the baby boy was born with no health issues, but his condition rapidly deteriorated and he was admitted to the ICU. , where doctors discussed “end-of-life care” with the distraught boy. parents.
A Singaporean family doctor said in a post that included the warning “Do not feed to young children!” The boy’s parents took the boy to the doctor a week later after they noticed he wasn’t drinking as much breast milk as usual. He said he took him to
mysterious symptoms
At this point, the baby had decreased muscle tone, was admitted to the hospital, developed seizures and a chest infection, and had difficulty breathing.
“The medical team performed many tests but could not find any underlying problem,” Dr Chaudhry said. “His condition continued to deteriorate and he was admitted to the ICU, where the team was discussing end-of-life care with his parents.”
Eventually, the medical team sent the boy’s poop for testing and found traces of Clostridium botulinum, a bacteria that produces a toxin that paralyzes muscles, the same substance used in Botox.
dangerous mistake
Dr Chowdhury said doctors found that the boy’s dummy was laced with honey, which should not be given to infants under 12 months of age. “As you know, it turns out that about 6 to 10 percent of honey contains spores of this bacteria,” the popular TikToker continued.
“And when we (adults) ingest honey, nothing happens, but infants under one year old don’t have very developed intestines. So the spores germinate, settle, reproduce, and wreaking havoc on infants, resulting in infant botulism.”
Paralysis can be fatal
according to New South Wales Department of Healthinfant botulism can cause muscle weakness, including constipation, loss of appetite, weak feeding, weak crying, and poor head control.
“Early symptoms of foodborne botulism include weakness, noticeable fatigue and dizziness, usually followed by blurred vision, dry mouth and difficulty swallowing,” a NSW Health spokesperson told Yahoo News Australia. Told. “Nausea and vomiting may occur.”
Symptoms can progress to paralysis of the muscles in the arms and extend into the legs, and paralysis of the respiratory muscles can be fatal.
What parents should know
The spores that cause botulism are found in dust, soil, and raw or processed honey, but food-borne botulism occurs when Clostridium botulism grows in food that has not been sufficiently heated and produces toxins. occurs in
“This is likely to occur with fish and meat products that have been fermented, salted or smoked, as well as vegetables and fruit that have been canned or bottled at home,” the NSW Department of Health added.
Thankfully, the baby in this case made a full recovery after a month of hospitalization and severe injuries. treated with antitoxin.
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