Characterizing the fecal microbiota of infants with botulism.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Infant botulism is the most prevalent form of botulism in the USA, representing 68.5 % of cases reported from 2001-2012. Infant botulism results when botulinum toxin-producing clostridia (BTPC) colonize the infant gut with concomitant in vivo production of the highly potent botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT). The gut microbiota of infants with botulism is largely uncharacterized; therefore, it remains unclear whether the microbiota profile of these patients are distinct in composition, abundance, or diversity. To address this uncertainty, we employed 16S rRNA gene profiling to characterize the fecal microbiota in 14 stool samples among laboratory-confirmed and non-confirmed infant botulism cases.

Results

Seven bacterial phyla were identified among all 14 infant stool sam

SUBMITTER: Shirey TB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4655454 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature