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Toxins

Are Toxins Always Harmful?

Bad Bacterial Toxins

• Certain bacteria give off toxins that can seriously affect your health.
• Toxins are agents produced by plants and bacteria, normally very damaging to human cells.
• Botulism, a severe form of food poisoning, affects the nerves and is caused by toxins from Clostridium botulinum bacteria.

Good Bacterial Toxins

• Under certain circumstances, however, bacterial toxins can be helpful.
• Several vaccines that protect us from getting sick are made from bacterial toxins.
• One type of pertussis vaccine, which protects infants and children from whooping cough, contains toxins from Bordetella pertussis bacteria. This vaccine is safe and effective and causes fewer reactions than other types of pertussis vaccine.

References:
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
NIH Publication No. 06-4914
January 2006
www3.niaid.nih.gov/
www.cfsan.fda.gov/