A natural phenomenon in which dietary sugars are converted into alcohol by yeast residing in the digestive tract is believed to be involved in the case of the baby found last Friday with 0.3 grams of alcohol in the blood.
- A two-year-old child showed worrying signs of blood alcohol probably caused by a rare phenomenon of intestinal fermentation
- Affected patients are intoxicated even though they have not consumed alcoholic beverages.
- The first study that describes this phenomenon is Japanese and dates from 1976
Naturally drunk without drinking a drop of alcohol… You might think the beginning of a bad joke but that’s what happened to a child of two years and three months who had to be hospitalized for a few hours after having presented worrying signs in a private nursery in Nîmes at the end of last week.
Concerned about the condition of the child, the staff of the crèche quickly informed the parents who went there to take their son to the hospital. Tests revealed that his symptoms came from a blood alcohol level of 0.3g/L of blood, to the amazement of parents and doctors. Fortunately, his vital prognosis was not committed and he was able to go home the same evening. This situation was reported to the Nîmes police but they have so far found no clues at the parents’ home and at the crèche to incriminate an external cause.
“Auto-brewery”
Behind this rare and worrying case hides a natural phenomenon called intestinal fermentation syndrome or “auto-brewery” caused by the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae (the “brewer’s yeast”), Saccharomyces boulardii or Candida albicans. It is quite common to produce a little alcohol in the intestine in the presence of yeast, but the level of alcohol produced in a healthy person is very low, it varies from 0 to 0.008 mg/100 mL of blood. In affected patients, the yeasts which develop abnormally, especially after a meal rich in carbohydrates, ferment excessively which causes the production of alcohol which passes into the blood and makes you drunk.
The imbalance of the microbiota in question
The treatment of this syndrome consists of taking an antifungal drug which helps fight against infections caused by fungi in order to reduce the presence of the offending yeasts which cause an imbalance of the microbiota, the other name for the intestinal flora. This treatment reduces the feeling of drunkenness and especially the production of alcohol by the yeasts, which is harmful to the body.
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