Turkey and some European countries, such as Germany, Austria and Switzerland, registered several cases of contamination by the bacterium that causes botulism in the last week. Infected patients underwent a medical procedure to lose weight in Turkish hospitals.
Altogether, 67 cases have already been accounted for by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), with most cases in the Middle Eastern country. No deaths have yet been reported, but some serious conditions are being treated in intensive care units.
Botulism is a serious illness caused by the bacteria Clostridium botulinum, commonly found in canned foods, soil, and human or animal feces. Milder cases manifest with blurred or double vision, diarrhea, nausea, and slurred speech. However, contamination by the bacteria can cause shortness of breath and difficulty swallowing and even lead to death.
The bacteria has gained prominence in recent years for being used in aesthetic treatments. Botulinum toxin, popularly known as botox, is a protein produced by the Clostridium botulinum.
In 2001, researchers from the Catholic University of Rome, in Italy, through animal testing, discovered that the toxin, when applied to the stomach wall, can delay digestion and keep the feeling of satiety longer. The result was published in the journal Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeuticsand the procedure became known as “gastric botox”.
However, butolinum toxin is composed of several different substances, which makes it difficult to manufacture a standardized product. Therefore, the ECDC team explains that it is difficult to identify what went wrong with the product to cause the outbreak.
Among the 67 cases reported, it is known that 60 of them came from a private hospital in Istanbul, the Turkish capital, and another three from a private network in Izmir, also in Turkey. All procedures were performed between February 22 and March 1, 2023.
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