The Texas Department of State Health Services
is warning parents and other adults not to give
babies pacifiers containing honey after four babies
were treated for botulism in Texas. Each infant
had been given a honey-containing pacifier
purchased in Mexico.
The four illnesses occurred from mid-August
to the end of October and caused all four babies
to be hospitalized for life-saving treatment. The
unrelated infants are residents of West Texas,
North Texas and South Texas.
Botulism is a serious illness caused by a toxin
that attacks the body’s nerves and can cause
difficulty breathing, paralysis and even death.
Honey may contain bacteria that produce the
toxin in the intestine of babies that eat it. By the
time children get to be 12 months old, they’ve
developed enough other types of bacteria in
their digestive tract to prevent the botulism bacteria
from growing and producing toxin.
DSHS today also issued a health alert asking
health care providers to look out for cases of infant
botulism and to remind parents not to let babies
eat honey. The Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention and the American Academy of
Pediatrics have long advised that children under
12 months old should not consume honey.
Honey-filled pacifiers, chupones con miel in
Spanish, are not common in the United States
but may be available in some specialty stores
and through online retailers. Most aren’t de signed
for the honey to be consumed, but some
have a small hole so a child could eat the honey,
or the pacifier could accidentally rupture or leak.
Parents should also avoid pacifiers containing
any other food substance, because they could
also pose a risk of botulism.
Symptoms in infants often include constipation,
lethargy, Generalized weakness (the “Floppy”
baby syndrome), poor feeding, head control
and/or gag and sucking reflex
Honey can contain spores of Clostridium botulinum
and may be a source of infection for infants
therefore children less than 12 months old
should not be fed honey (raw or otherwise).
Infant botulism is the most common form of
botulism reported. In the past five years, 26
cases of infant botulism were reported in Texas;
4 cases in 2011, 1 case in 2012, 7 cases in 2013,
7 cases in 2014, and 7 cases in 2015.
