"For former Bay Area biochemist Nancy Shine, Ph.D., cards and thank-you notes from grateful families are a reminder of a life-saving project that's rescued countless infants with botulism. It's an antitoxin developed from the blood plasma she and a unique group of volunteers donated. Unique, because they were among the few in the country already immunized against botulism because of their potentially dangerous lab work."
"BabyBIG, as an antitoxin, is going to stop any effect of the toxin once BabyBIG is administered. So, it's neutralizing that toxin as soon as it's administered in the baby's bloodstream. Any of the circulating toxin that's being absorbed from the baby's intestinal tract. It does not reverse existing paralysis, but it stops or halts that toxin, Dr. Khouri said."
Former Bay Area biochemist Nancy Shine and a small group of immunized volunteers donated blood plasma used to develop BabyBIG, a human botulism immune globulin. Bay Area doctor Stephen Arnon led the effort at the California Department of Public Health over four decades ago to create an antitoxin for infant botulism. Donation processing involves separating and concentrating antibodies in plasma so BabyBIG contains antibodies that neutralize circulating botulinum toxin. BabyBIG stops effects of the toxin once administered but does not reverse existing paralysis. The therapy's success prompted a clinical trial in California during the 1990s for affected infants.
Read at ABC7 San Francisco
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