Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei City, Taiwan.
Department of Medical Research, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei City, Taiwan.
Medicine (Baltimore). 2022 Oct 21;101(42):e31198. doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000031198.
Botulinum toxin is produced by Clostridium botulinum, a gram-positive anaerobic bacterium. This study aimed to examine the epidemiological characteristics, including sex, age, season in which infection occurred, place of residence, and epidemiological trends, of confirmed botulism cases in Taiwan from 2003 to 2020. This study examined the annual summary data on reported botulism in Taiwan' s Center for Disease Control from 2003 to 2020 available to the public on the internet. We found that there were 50 confirmed domestic cases of botulism. The incidence of botulism ranged from 0 to 0.48 per 1000,000 from 2003 to 2020 and peaked in 2008 and 2010. During the 18-year investigation period in which 6-year intervals were used, the study results showed a decreasing trend (2003-2008, 2009-14, and 2015-2020, had 22, 19, 9 cases each). In terms of patients' gender, age, and place of residence, most of the patients were females (56%), were aged ≥ 50 years (48%), and resided in Taipei and northern Taiwan (44%). The number of botulism cases in Taiwan from 2012 to 2020 compared with other years (from 2003 to 2011) found that there were significant differences among patients within an age group of <20 years (P = .003, odds ratio = 18.500, and 95% confidence interval = 3.287-104.111), and there were significant differences among patients whose place of residence was Taipei metropolitan area (P = .025, odds ratio = 5.667, and 95% confidence interval = 1.248-25.734). During 2003 to 2009, there was no case of botulism among those aged <20 years. Over the last 10 years, botulism in children showed an increasing trend. A total of 9 children were found to have botulism during 2010 to 2020; most of these children were male (66.7%) and were infected during spring and summer (66.7%). This study is the first to report the number of confirmed domestic cases with botulism from surveillance data from Taiwan's Center for Disease Control during 2003 to 2020. This study also found that the place of residence and age were associated with an increased risk of botulism in Taiwan. This information may be useful for policymakers and clinical experts to direct prevention- and control-based activities regarding botulism that result in the most severe illness and the greatest burden on Taiwanese.
肉毒杆菌毒素由肉毒梭菌产生，肉毒梭菌是一种革兰氏阳性厌氧细菌。本研究旨在分析 2003 年至 2020 年间台湾确诊肉毒中毒病例的流行病学特征，包括性别、年龄、感染季节、居住地和流行趋势。本研究分析了台湾疾病管制署网上公开的 2003 年至 2020 年每年报告的肉毒中毒总结数据。我们发现，有 50 例确诊的国内肉毒中毒病例。2003 年至 2020 年，肉毒中毒的发病率为每 100 万人 0 至 0.48 例，2008 年和 2010 年达到高峰。在 18 年的调查期间，每 6 年进行一次研究，研究结果显示呈下降趋势（2003-2008 年、2009-2014 年和 2015-2020 年分别有 22、19 和 9 例）。就患者的性别、年龄和居住地而言，大多数患者为女性（56%），年龄≥50 岁（48%），居住在台北和台湾北部（44%）。与其他年份（2003 年至 2011 年）相比，2012 年至 2020 年台湾的肉毒中毒病例数发现，年龄组<20 岁的患者之间有显著差异（P=.003，优势比=18.500，95%置信区间=3.287-104.111），居住地为台北都会区的患者之间有显著差异（P=.025，优势比=5.667，95%置信区间=1.248-25.734）。2003 年至 2009 年，年龄<20 岁的患者中没有肉毒中毒病例。在过去 10 年中，儿童肉毒中毒呈上升趋势。2010 年至 2020 年共发现 9 例儿童肉毒中毒，其中大多数为男性（66.7%），感染季节为春季和夏季（66.7%）。本研究首次报告了 2003 年至 2020 年台湾疾病管制署监测数据中确诊的国内肉毒中毒病例数。本研究还发现，居住地和年龄与台湾肉毒中毒风险增加有关。这些信息可能有助于政策制定者和临床专家针对导致台湾最严重疾病和最大负担的肉毒中毒开展以预防和控制为基础的活动。
