Lee County newborn recovering from botulism

At three weeks old, Khaizyn Kay was taken to Golisano Children’s Hospital after he stopped eating and grew lethargic. Parents Daizy and Joey Kay knew something was wrong.

“And 24 hours from the time of admission, he completely lost his mobility. He didn’t move. He didn’t respond to pain. He did not cry. He didn’t open his eyes,” Daizy said.

Seeing their infant in despair was hard to bear.

“At first, he looked horrible. He had tubes inside of him. He had IVs, everything you know, you name it, try to help him breathe to help him eat,” Joey said.

Teams in the ICU landed on the presumption of botulism. Test results can take more than a week. That’s time they didn’t want to waste.

“With botulism, the symptoms are paralysis, so the toxin blocks the connection between the nerve and the muscle,” pediatric neurologist Dr. Sophia French said. “You can’t move your arms and your legs; you get weakness of your swallowing muscles, so you can’t swallow; weakness of your breathing muscles, so you can’t breathe.”

She is part of his care team at Golisano.

The decision was made to treat Khaizyn with a one-time shot made specifically for infantile botulism.

“It’s called BabyBIG. It’s a botulinum, immune globulin. So it’s a specific immune globulin that you’re given that helps fight that toxin,” said Dr. Leigh Sweet. She is the pediatric infectious disease specialist who treated Khaizyn.

It’s rare, but babies under one-year-old can get botulinum if they are exposed to spores of the bacteria. Someone older would be able to fight off infection, but a baby’s immune system isn’t strong enough.

A likely cause of Khaizyn’s case was exposure to soil or honey, which can carry botulism spores. He came out of his paralysis about 72 hours after getting the shot.

“When he started moving his little toes and picking up his legs, I mean, we were dancing around the room,” Dr. Sweet said.

He’s six weeks old now, getting physical therapy to strengthen his muscles. His parents are grateful for the fast action that saved their son’s life.

“He crashed three times. He had to be intubated so many times I thought I wasn’t gonna walk out of here with our baby,” Daizy said.

After spending half of his life battling botulism, baby Khaizyn should go home next week.

The CDC investigated the exposure, as it does in all cases of botulism, to ensure it didn’t come from a contaminated food source. However, that is not usually the case with infants, and the cause is never determined.

A GoFundMe is set up to help the family with expenses and the ongoing treatment Khaizyn will need to make a full recovery. Click here to donate.