Tetanus Vaccinations

Tetanus is different from other vaccine-preventable diseases because it does not spread from person to person. The bacteria are usually found in soil, dust and manure and enter the body through breaks in the skin - usually cuts or puncture wounds caused by contaminated objects or accidental injuries.

Symptoms and Complications

Tetanus is often called "lockjaw" because the jaw muscles tighten, and the person cannot open his mouth. The most common initial sign is spasms of the muscles of the jaw, or "lockjaw".

Tetanus symptoms include:

• Headache Jaw cramping
• Sudden, involuntary muscle tightening – often in the stomach (muscle spasms)
• Painful muscle stiffness all over the body
• Trouble swallowing
• Jerking or staring (seizures)
• Fever and sweating
• High blood pressure and fast heart rate

Tetanus complications include:

• Uncontrolled/involuntary muscular contraction of the vocal cords (laryngo-spasm)
• Pneumonia, a lung infection, that develops by breathing in foreign materials (aspiration pneumonia)

Prevention

Being fully immunized with tetanus vaccines for all ages is best way to prevent tetanus infection. New tetanus vaccine combined with other vaccination like Diphtheria, whooping cough and inactivated polio is best vaccine.