Dangers of Clostridium perfringens food poisoning in psychiatric patients

Abstract

Clostridium perfringens food poisoning can be fatal in patients with chronic constipation. We report the investigation and management of a probable outbreak of C. perfringens food poisoning among psychiatric patients in Cape Town, South Africa, in 2013.

Occurrence of Clostridium perfringens in Wild Mammals in the Amazon Biome

“…Nevertheless, there are reports suggesting that type A is the cause of lethal haemorrhagic enteritis in several species, such as Panthera tigris altaica (Siberian tiger), Panthera leo (lion) [10], Vulpes vulpes (red fox) [22], Loxodonta africana (elephant) [23], Selenarctos thibetanus (Asian black bear) [24] and Papio hamadryas (hamadryas baboon) [25]. Previous studies have suggested that factors other than the toxinotype may be associated with the occurrence of enteric disease caused by C. perfringens type A in animals and humans, such as stress, dysregulation of the intestinal microbiota, and parasitic and viral infections [5,18,22,[24][25][26][27][28][29][30].…”

Occurrence of Clostridium perfringens in Wild Mammals in the Amazon Biome

“…Nevertheless, there are reports suggesting that type A is the cause of lethal haemorrhagic enteritis in several species, such as Panthera tigris altaica (Siberian tiger), Panthera leo (lion) [8], Vulpes vulpes (red fox) [18], Loxodonta africana (elephant) [19], Selenarctos thibetanus (Asian black bear) [20] and Papio hamadryas (hamadryas baboon) [21]. Previous studies have suggested that factors other than the toxinotype may be associated with the occurrence of enteric disease caused by C. perfringens type A in animals and humans, such as stress, the dysregulation of the intestinal microbiota, and parasitic and viral infections [5,15,18,[20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28]. In other words, C. perfringens type A is a facultative bacterium, meaning it is primarily commensal but can cause disease if the gut environment is disturbed or the host is stressed or otherwise immunocompromised.…”

Characterizing the Contributions of Various Clostridium perfringens Enterotoxin Properties to In Vivo and In Vitro Permeability Effects

“…Although symptoms of this food poisoning are typically limited to diarrhea and abdominal cramps that self-resolve within 24 h, fatalities can occur in the elderly ( 21 ). More recently, it has become recognized that type F food poisoning can also be lethal in younger, physically healthy individuals suffering from medication-induced severe constipation or fecal impaction at the time of infection by a type F strain ( 22 – 24 ). Those preexisting conditions are thought to block the intestinal flushing effects of CPE-induced diarrhea, leading to a prolonged contact between CPE and the intestines ( 22 ) that likely increases disease severity.…”