tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9009249011572927504.post8114071621283582225..comments2023-06-25T11:35:22.634-04:00Comments on Evil League of Evil Writers: Series Post: Ask Dr. Dina - Infection Part I: BacteriaSkyla Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02094497198550621780noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9009249011572927504.post-73812798412618148032013-07-18T22:27:13.087-04:002013-07-18T22:27:13.087-04:00In rethinking my previous comment, I should also p...In rethinking my previous comment, I should also point out that the problem with tetanus is the toxin... again, that's a big part of the low response to treatment you mentioned. Though typically with tetanus, there is an active infection and the toxin is produced in your body, so treatment with antibiotics stops toxin production by killing bacteria, it just doesn't eliminate the existing toxin. That's in contrast to botulism, which usually involves ingestion of pre-formed toxin and not live bacteria.<br /><br />They're a nasty little family group, C tetani and C botulinum, you can choose painful muscle rigidity or suffocation through flaccid paralysis. Yay?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9009249011572927504.post-24365578675756175652013-07-16T21:47:24.163-04:002013-07-16T21:47:24.163-04:00Just to clear up a possibly confusing thing - the ...Just to clear up a possibly confusing thing - the symptoms of botulism are not actually caused by infection with the C botulinum, they're caused by the toxin that organism produces. Most cases of botulism do not involve an active infection, which is why they don't respond to antibiotics. The bacteria grows in oxygen poor environments, like canned foods that weren't heated high/long enough to kill all the bacteria.<br />So Botox is not the injection of live bacteria, it's the injection of diluted toxin - and as with all drugs, the difference between 'medicine' and 'poison' is dose.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com