Botulism: A Frequently Forgotten Old Malady

Thajeb, Teguh; Chen, Yi-Min; Dai, Dao-Fu; Thajeb, Daniel Daile; Thajeb, Peterus

doi:10.1016/S1873-9598(08)70032-2

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Volume 1, Issue 3 , Pages 118-124, September 2007

Botulism: A Frequently Forgotten Old Malady

Teguh Thajeb
- Department of Internal Medicine, Chang-Gung Memorial Hospital, Lin-Kou, Taipei, Taiwan
- Department of Internal Medicine, Li-Shin Hospital, Ping-Jen City, Taoyuan, Taipei, Taiwan
Yi-Min Chen
- Department of Neurology and Medical Research, Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
Dao-Fu Dai
- Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, USA
Daniel Daile Thajeb
- School of Biotechnology, Asia University, Taichung, Taipei, Taiwan
Peterus Thajeb
- Department of Neurology and Medical Research, Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
- School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan
- School of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan
- Correspondence to: Dr Peterus Thajeb, School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, P.O. Box Nei-Hu 6-30, Taipei City 11499, Taiwan

Accepted 15 March 2007.

SUMMARY

A frequently forgotten old malady called botulism has been recognized for more than a century. This ailment occurs worldwide, afflicts human of all age groups from infants to elderly and affects Oriental people more often in several regions of China. Occurrence in Taiwan is uncommon, and therefore, it is often overlooked. The outbreaks of human botulism in various regions of the world, the clinical types, the molecular mechanisms, and the electrophysiologic findings will be highlighted.

Key Words: Botox , botulinum neurotoxin , botulism , Clostridium botulinum , paralysis