Botulism

Symptoms of botulism

The symptoms of botulism can include:

• blurred or double vision
• drooping eyelids
• difficulty swallowing and speaking
• weak muscles, particularly in your face
• constipation
• dry mouth

In babies and young children, symptoms may also include:

• a weak cry, or crying that sounds different to normal
• difficulty feeding
• being quieter or less active than usual, or constantly sleepy
• having a limp or floppy head, neck, arms or legs

If not treated quickly, botulism can lead to you not being able to move parts of your body (paralysis).

This spreads down from your head to the rest of your body and can affect the muscles that control your breathing.

Treatment for botulism

Botulism needs immediate treatment in hospital. It can be life-threatening if not treated quickly.

The main treatment for botulism is:

• medicine to stop the symptoms getting worse, given into a vein through a drip (IV)
• helping your body do things until you recover, like using a ventilator to help you breathe

If the botulism was caused by bacteria getting into a wound, you may also need medicine to treat the infection and surgery to remove any infected tissue.

Recovering from botulism

Botulism is a life-threatening condition, but most people recover fully if treated quickly.

The medicine stops symptoms from getting worse but does not treat muscle weakness or paralysis that has already happened.

These symptoms will improve over a few weeks or months, but it can take up to a year for breathing problems and muscle strength to get better.

Some people continue to have longer-term problems such as:

• feeling very tired
• getting out of breath easily
• finding it hard to lift things
• struggling with their mental wellbeing

Causes of botulism

Botulism is caused when a certain type of bacteria, or the toxin the bacteria make, gets into your body.

This can happen:

• by eating food with the toxin in it – for example, if the food has not been cooked or stored properly (foodborne botulism)
• when a child eats the bacteria in things like honey, or accidentally in soil or sand (infant botulism)
• when too much botulinum toxin is injected into the body – this can happen when the toxin is used as part of a cosmetic procedure or to treat conditions like migraine (iatrogenic botulism)
• when the bacteria gets into a wound, for example from soil not being cleaned out properly or from injecting illegal drugs (wound botulism)

All types of botulism are rare in the UK.

How to lower your risk of getting botulism

While botulism is rare in the UK, there are still ways to lower your or your child's chances of getting it.