Madrid, (EFE).- Although rare, botulism is a serious disease that can be fatal, hence the need to act quickly against symptoms that begin with fatigue, weakness and vertigo and continue with blurred vision, dry mouth, dysphagia or dysarthria and other neurological that move from the shoulders down.
Botulism is generally caused by the ingestion of food contaminated with toxins produced by the Clostridium botulinum bacterium and rarely by some strains of Clostridium baratii, although it can also be caused by open wounds or cosmetic treatments.
The foods most frequently associated with botulism are homemade preserves, especially vegetables such as chillies in oil, asparagus, green beans; fish, including canned tuna and those that are fermented, salted, and smoked; and meat products.
The cases of which the Spanish Food Safety Agency (Aesan) has notified this Tuesday are associated with the consumption of a brand of potato tortillas sold in various supermarkets, some of which, such as Ahorramas or Eroski, have already proceeded to withdraw.
Symptoms
In these cases of foodborne botulism, symptoms usually appear after a typical incubation period of 12-36 hours, although sometimes it can be several days. The shorter the incubation period, the more serious the disease and the higher the lethality, according to the Protocol for the surveillance of this disease of the National Epidemiological Surveillance Network (Renave) of the Carlos III Health Institute.
Although the patient may present gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea, those that initially appear are marked asthenia, weakness, and vertigo followed by blurred vision, dry mouth, dysphagia, and dysarthria.
Meanwhile, neurological symptoms are always descending (first the shoulders are affected, then the arms, forearms, and so on); paralysis of the respiratory muscles can cause death if mechanical ventilation is not instituted.
A mortality between 5% and 10%
According to the WHO, mortality is between 5% and 10% of cases but, if they are diagnosed and treated early, the majority of patients recover, hence the need to act quickly in the face of any alarm signal by going to the emergency medical services or by calling 112, the OCU has been summoned.
The organization has requested that all the brands and bottles involved be reported urgently because it is a widely consumed product, even more so at this time, and “suspicion cannot fall on everyone”, in addition to the fact that it is vital that consumers can better identify which product is affected in order to react quickly.
And it reminds consumers of the importance of respecting basic safety and hygiene principles and keeping food cold and following consumption instructions; in the case of packaged potato tortillas, they should be kept refrigerated, never at room temperature, he concludes.