It has been observed that the disease is mainly caused by consuming home-made vegetable marinades (pickles). This is because botulism spores may have entered the busy part of vegetables (eg cucumbers, tomatoes, eggplants) through the soil. When canned, these spores release botulinum toxin in an airless environment inside the container. It is these toxins that cause botulism.
Consumption of home-made vegetable marinades releases botulism toxin, which is rapidly absorbed in the intestine, absorbed into the bloodstream and spread throughout the body, mainly damaging the central and autonomic nervous systems. The disease usually begins suddenly 12 to 24 hours after consuming the toxic marinade. Patients have general malaise, lethargy, nausea, and vomiting. Often the mouth is dry and there may be pain in the stomach. After 6 or 24 hours, the neurological symptoms of botulism appear. The patient with blurred vision is unable to see clearly, and sometimes objects appear to be in two (diplopia). Also, the eyelids may droop and the eyes may not open, the width of the pupils may change, the movement of the beards may be impaired, it may be difficult to swallow, the voice may be slurred, and he may become slurred or speechless. Due to impaired swallowing function, in most cases, the fluid the patient drinks starts to flow out of his nose.
In many cases, different symptoms of botulism cause the patient to consult a doctor (eg, neurologist, ophthalmologist, otorhinolaryngologist, therapist, etc.). This can lead to untimely detection of the disease.
The doctor should be called home as soon as the above symptoms appear. Until the ambulance arrives, if the patient's swallowing function is not disturbed, he can drink boiled boiled water or enema with 2-3 liters of warm water. This alleviates the patient’s condition a bit. A person with botulism should be taken to the hospital as soon as possible. This is because the venom of the disease germs first enters the bloodstream and then travels rapidly to the tissues. Delayed treatment can lead to serious complications (eg, vascular and respiratory failure, heartburn, myocarditis, etc.) and even death.
Our advice is not to pickle cucumbers, tomatoes and other similar vegetables at home. It is better to buy them at the point of sale!
Sohibjon ALIMOV,
Epidemiology, microbiology and infectious diseases
resuscitation of the clinic of the research institute and
Head of Intensive Care Unit, Candidate of Medical Sciences.
