Problems of diagnosis and treatment of botulism in children: clinical case

T.S. Sabinina¹, D.V. Novikov¹, P.V. Fedorov¹, V.G. Bagaev², E.V. Melekhina³

¹Khimki Regional Hospital, Khimki

²Russian Medical Academy of Continuous Professional Education, Moscow

³Central Research Institute of Epidemiology of The Federal Service on Customers’ Rights Protection and Human Well-being Surveillance, Moscow

Botulism remains an urgent problem in the XXI century. Although the number of cases registered in the Russian Federation has decreased in recent years, practising physicians of various specialities continue to face this problem. It is known that the botulism outcome depends on the early diagnosis of disease and the immediate administration of serum. However, the amount of botulinum toxin in the patient’s body is a factor in determining the disease severity. The article presents the patient management of a 9-year-old patient with severe botulism in the intensive care unit, with a favourable outcome. The article also describes the clinical picture dynamics, the characteristics of pharmacological therapy and the tactics of decision-making about the need for an ALV. The difficulties concerning establishing a diagnosis at the disease onset and the importance of a careful analysis of the anamnestic data are noted. Special attention is paid to the importance of physical and psychological rehabilitation. It is concluded that intensive therapy of botulism should be comprehensive and conducted in hospitals that have experience of long-term ALV in children.

Keywords: botulism, children, treatment, intensive care, artificial lung ventilation.

For citation: Sabinina T.S., Novikov D.V., Fedorov P.V. et al. Problems of diagnosis and treatment of botulism in children: clinical case. RMJ. 2021;4:35–39.