Objective: To summarize the clinical characteristics and prognosis of severe infant botulism and evaluate the therapeutic effect of botulinum antitoxin in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). Methods: The clinical data of 8 cases diagnosed with infantile botulism were retrospectively analyzed in the PICU of Beijing Children's Hospital from October 2019 to August 2023. Data of basic demographic information, clinical manifestations, laboratory tests, treatment and prognosis of each child were collected and analyzed using descriptive statistical methods. Results: Eight laboratory-confirmed cases of infant botulism were included in this study, all of which were male infants with an age of 6.0 (3.3,6.8) months. Three of the children were from Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, 2 of them were from Hebei, and the other 3 were from Beijing, Shandong and Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, respectively. All the patients were previously healthy. In 4 of these cases, the possible cause was the ingestion of either honey and its products or sealed pickled food by the mother or child before the onset of the disease. The first symptom was poor milk intake (4 cases), followed by shallow shortness of breath (7 cases), limb weakness (7 cases) and so on. The typical signs were bilateral dilated pupils (8 cases) and decreased limb muscle strength (8 cases). The main subtype was type B (7 cases), and only 1 case was classified as type A. Six of the children were treated with antitoxin therapy for a duration of 24 (19, 49) d. Seven of them had invasive mechanical ventilation. All the patients survived upon discharge with a follow-up period of 29 d to 3 years and 8 months. Six patients had fully recovered, and 2 recently discharged patients were gradually recovering. Conclusions: For infants with suspected contact or ingestion of botulinum and presented with bilateral pupillary paralysis, muscle weakness and clear consciousness, the stool should be collected for diagnostic testing using a mouse bioassay as soon as possible. Type B was the most common type. The antitoxin treatment was effectiveness and the prognosis was well.
目的： 总结儿童重症监护病房（PICU）重症婴儿肉毒中毒的临床特点及预后，评估抗毒素的治疗效果。 方法： 回顾性分析2019年10月至2023年8月北京儿童医院PICU收治的8例送检粪标本进行实验室检查确诊为重症婴儿肉毒中毒患儿的临床资料。总结患儿基本信息、临床表现、实验室检查、治疗及预后等资料。 结果： 8例实验室确诊的婴儿肉毒中毒患儿均为男婴，年龄为6.0（3.3，6.8）月龄。3例患儿来自内蒙古自治区，2例来自河北省，北京市、山东省、新疆维吾尔自治区各1例。所有患儿均既往体健，其中4例患儿发病前母亲或患儿有摄入蜂蜜及其制品或密封腌制食品的可能诱因，首发症状以纳奶差（4例）最常见，后出现呼吸浅促（7例）、肢体无力（7例）等。体征以双侧瞳孔散大（8例）、四肢肌力减低（8例）为相对典型改变。分型以B型为主（7例），余1例为A型。6例患儿应用抗毒素治疗，使用时间为24（19，49）d。7例需有创机械通气。所有患儿出院时均存活，随访时间为29 d至3年8个月，6例完全康复，2例新近出院患儿逐渐恢复中。 结论： 对既往体健有可疑肉毒杆菌接触或摄入史，存在双侧瞳孔散大、肌无力但意识清楚等表现的患儿应尽早送检粪标本小鼠生物实验筛查。肉毒中毒B型多见，抗毒素治疗有效，总体预后良好。.