Infant botulism--the first five years.

In 1976 physicians in California reported the presence of botulism in infancy. Over a period of a few days infants developed generalized weakness and lost autonomic functions. The severity of infant botulism has varied from feeding difficulties to paralysis. No toxin was found in the infants' food, but it was detected in the stool along with C. botulinum spores and organism. This suggested that infants consumed the spores, which germinated into organisms, which produced the toxin.