Botulism classification

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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1] Michael Maddaleni, B.S.

Overview

Botulism can be classified into foodborne, wound and infant botulism. Iatrogenic botulism and adult intestinal toxemia are rare types of botulism. They are differed from each other according to the mode of infection and the clinical presentation.

Classification

• There are three main kinds of botulism:
  • Foodborne botulism is caused by eating foods that contain the botulinum toxin.
  • Wound botulism is caused by toxin produced from a wound infected with Clostridium botulinum. This is the rarest type of botulism.
  • Infant botulism is caused by consuming the spores of the botulinum bacteria, which then grow in the intestines and release toxin.

• Two other rare types of botulism:
  • Iatrogenic botulism which is caused if too much botulinum toxin is injected.
  • Adult intestinal toxemia which is a very rare kind of botulism that can happen if the spores of the bacteria get into an adult’s intestines, grow, and produce the toxin.