BOTULISM THREAT BRINGS MORE WARNINGS ABOUT FEEDING BABIES HONEY

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, January 21, 1992                   TAG: 9201210165
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: E-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DANIEL P. PUZO
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
BOTULISM THREAT BRINGS MORE WARNINGS ABOUT FEEDING BABIES HONEY
Parents are again being warned not to feed honey to babies younger than 12 months after a record number of rare infant botulism cases was reported in California during 1991.
Other than environmental sources such as dust, the only known cause of infant botulism is honey.
Although the actual number of infections in California was small at 49, the increase was more than 70 percent over 1990 levels, according to unpublished data supplied to the Los Angeles Times by state officials.
Infant botulism manifests itself in children younger than 12 months as a form of paralysis. Most cases require intensive care hospitalization; the average length of stay is six weeks. During that time the victim is in a trance-like state unable to move and without normal muscle tone. Initial symptoms include constipation, a weak cry, expressionless face, head lag and respiratory arrest.
A consumer group effort to have warning labels placed on honey products a decade ago was successfully fought by food-industry concerns.
Most infant botulism cases in the United States occur in California, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. For instance, in 1990, the last year for which figures are available, 45 percent of the nation's reported cases were in California.
Infant botulism, first diagnosed in 1976, is an opportunistic disease that takes advantage of infants' undeveloped intestine. Clostridium botulinum spores remain dormant unless provided with ideal growing conditions. While older children and adults can consume the spores that may be present in honey without any problem, infants have no such protective mechanisms such as internal bacteria that can defeat the organism.
"Honey is the one known, avoidable source [of infant botulism] and the data implicating honey are ironclad," said Dr. Stephen Arnon, of the California Department of Health Services and one of the researchers who first identified infant botulism as a disease.
Arnon is enthusiastic about a new treatment for infant botulism that is scheduled to start Feb. 1 in California. Those babies diagnosed as having the disease will be eligible for a free treatment with Botulism Immune Globulin.
Ironically, the three-year clinical study was delayed for about 12 months because of the Persian Gulf war. The Botulism Immune Globulin, which was developed by the U.S. Army, was not released for use because Pentagon officials thought that the medication might be needed if Iraq used biological weapons against Allied forces.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB