Vaccination and Tetanus

Tetanus Tetanus is a very serious disease and is frequently called lockjaw (National Coalition for Adult Immunization). It was first discovered by a Japanese researcher, Kitasato, in 1889(Family health and family guide). This disease effects the nervous system and is caused by bacteria. It is contracted through a cut or wound that becomes infected. This bacteria is called Clostridium tatani (The doctors from medicine net .com). This bacteria is found all over the world in things such as soil, dust, and manure or the intestines of human beings (National Coalition for Adult Immunization). Tetanus is most common in warm climates and in highly cultivated rural areas ( Wyngaarden, James 1390). The bacteria can get in through even a tiniest scratches, but deep puncture wounds or cuts like those made by nails or knives are especially vulnerable to infection with tetanus. If infected with the disease it causes severe muscle spasms, leading to the jaw to be locked. This gives the bacteria it's name lockjaw. With it's prey having a locked jaw this means that they are unable to open their mouth or swallow, and may even in some cases, lead to death by suffocation (National Coalition for Adult Immunization). The tetanus toxin affects the place of contact between the nerve and the muscle that it stimulates. This area is called the neuromuscular junction. This tetanus toxin makes the chemical signal from the nerve to the muscle which causes the muscles to tighten up in a huge convulsion or spasm (The doctors from medicine net .com). The first common signs of tetanus are a headache and muscular stiffness in the jaw, as the poison spreads, it starts to attack more groups of muscles, causing spasms to eventually lead to the neck, arms, legs, and stomach, and sometimes convulsions or seizures. Symptoms usually begin in about eight days after the infection but can range anywhere from three days to three weeks (Health Promotion and education). In general, the

Cited: The doctors from medicine net .com. "Tetanus (lockjaw)." 5 June 2002 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Tetanus." 9 March 1995. National Coalition for Adult Immunization. "Facts about tetanus." 3 February 2003. Health Promotion and education. "Tetanus." http://www.astdhpphe.org/infect/tetanus.html Kerr, John. Cecil Textbook of Medicine. 17th edition: New York: W.B. Saunders Company, 1985. Barker, Graham. Family Health & Medical Guide. New York: Hearst Books, 1979.