A CASE OF INFANT BOTULISM - CLINICAL AND LABORATORY OBSERVATIONS

A recent case of infant botulism in a 10 week old male is described. T he disease was suspected since other diagnostic hypotheses were not co nfirmed by laboratory and instrumental findings. Microbiological inves tigation showed the presence of type B botulinal toxin and C. botulinu m strain in sequential stool samples. No botulinal toxin was found in serum samples and electromyography was not useful for diagnostic purpo se. The difficulty of an exact diagnosis might suggest that infant bot ulism in Italy is underestimated.