First case of type E wound botulism diagnosed using real-time PCR.

Summary, in English

Wound botulism is a growing problem among injecting drug users. The condition is often difficult to diagnose, with laboratory confirmation in only 50% of the cases. Here we present a real-time PCR-based method for the diagnosis of wound botulism caused by Clostridium botulinum. The assay includes an internal amplification control which is amplified simultaneously with the genes encoding neurotoxin types A, B, and E. This method was used to detect the first case of wound botulism in an injecting drug user in Sweden. In addition, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of wound botulism caused by C. botulinum type E.

• Author: Ingrid Artin; Per Björkman; Jonas Cronqvist; Peter Rådström; Elisabet Holst
• Department/s: Division of Medical Microbiology; Applied Microbiology; Infectious Diseases Research Unit; Social Medicine and Global Health; Department of Clinical Sciences, Malmö
• Publishing year: 2007
• Language: English
• Pages: 3589-3594
• Publication/Series: Journal of Clinical Microbiology
• Volume: 45
• Issue: 11
• Links: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=17881556&dopt=Abstract; http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/JCM.01192-07
• Document type: Journal article
• Publisher: American Society for Microbiology
• Topic: Microbiology in the medical area
• Status: Published
• Research group: Infectious Diseases Research Unit; Social Medicine and Global Health
• ISBN/ISSN/Other: ISSN: 1098-660X