title: Honey pacifier use among an indigent pediatric population.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Use of honey pacifiers by infants presenting to a pediatric clinic at a county hospital in Houston, Texas, was observed by several of our staff members. Although we could not find any published studies linking the use of honey pacifiers to infant botulism, we also could not find any studies assessing the prevalence of honey pacifier use in general.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a cross-sectional, descriptive study using a novel survey that had 19 items. The survey was administered to the parents of children up to age 12 months presenting to a county hospital pediatric clinic for well-child care in Houston, Texas, from February 2010 to April 2011.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 397 respondents. Approximately 11% of the respondents reported using honey pacifiers with their infant children. Reasons for use included tradition, infant preference, and perceived health benefits (eg, helps with constipation or colic). Approximately 20% of the honey pacifier users and 23% of the entire group reported knowledge of honey potentially causing an illness in children <12 months of age. Nearly 40% of all respondents also reported using herbal or folk remedies.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Honey pacifier use was relatively common among this population, seen in ∼1 out of 10 respondents. A majority of the mothers surveyed (∼80%) were unaware of the potential dangers of giving honey to infants under age 12 months. Herbal medicine use was also common.
authors: Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas-Houston Medical School, Houston, TX 77030, USA. laura.j.benjamins@uth.tmc.edu
authors: Laura J
authors: LJ
authors: Benjamins
authors: Anand
authors: A
authors: Gourishankar
authors: Vanessa
authors: V
authors: Yataco-Marquez
authors: Elizabeth Hernandez
authors: EH
authors: Cardona
authors: Lisa
authors: L
authors: de Ybarrondo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001906:Botulism / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006722:Honey / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D041361:Pacifiers / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011203:Poverty; D015995:Prevalence; D013781:Texas; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: food-borne botulism; herbal medicine; honey; infantile; knowledge; pacifiers