BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) -- The Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) is warning residents to avoid Botox injections from unlicensed providers and non-medical places after two people were hospitalized due to severe illnesses from unsafe injections.

According to LDH, the unrelated cases were reported in September. One person bought an unlicensed botulinum toxin online. Another received injections from someone with unknown credentials in a non-medical place. Both developed botulism-like symptoms and required hospitalization.

Botulism is a rare but serious illness. It affects the nervous system and can be fatal. Symptoms include muscle weakness, trouble breathing, and paralysis. LDH said that counterfeit or mishandled botulinum toxin has led to hospitalizations nationwide and often

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