Health professionals have been urged to look out for signs of the serious but rare disease botulism, after four injecting drug users presented with suspected cases.
The Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) and the HSE in the eastern region have been informed that four cases of `wound¿ botulism are under investigation.
The disease, in this case, is caused when spores of the organism clostridium botulinum get into an open wound.
Specialist in public health medicine Dr Suzanne Cotter said: ¿This is a rare condition and we are waiting for further test results to confirm these cases.
¿Wound botulism is caused by a toxin that is commonly found as spores in soil. The illness can be caused if a wound is contaminated by soil or gravel. In recent years this type of botulism has been most commonly reported among chronic drug users. It occurs mainly in skin abscesses from injecting heroin but can also be caused by snorting cocaine.¿
Dr Cotter said symptoms usually develop about 12-36 hours after exposure to the toxin and typically begin with blurred vision, difficulty swallowing, difficulty speaking and occasionally breathing problems.
Diarrhoea and vomiting can also occur and the disease can progress to paralysis.
¿Anyone who experiences these symptoms should seek medical attention immediately. Most people with botulism will recover with treatment, but it can take months. The disease is fatal in 5-10 per cent of cases,¿ Dr Cotter said.
Botulism has previously been reported in drug users but few cases are seen in Ireland, according to the HPSC.
¿The last cases of botulism in drug users occurred in 2002 when three injecting drug users developed botulism,¿ Dr Cotter said.
The symptoms are caused not by the organism itself, but by eating or breathing in the toxin which the organism releases.
Botulism can also be foodborne, and the toxin produced by the germination of the spores of the organism can make a person ill with weakness and paralysis when consumed in food.
The bacteria can only grown in the absence of oxygen, so botulism tends to occur when the spores have somehow got into an airtight environment such as tins or jars, particularly home-preserved foods which have been preserved in oil. The toxin is destroyed by normal cooking processes.