Tetanus

General description of the disease

Tetanus is an acute infectious disease that affects the nervous system. The disease is common to both humans and animals.

It has a peculiarity – a sick person or animal is safe for others, since tetanus bacillus is not transmitted from a sick person to a healthy one.

Another nuance is that after recovery, the patient does not develop immunity and the likelihood of re-infection is equated to primary infection.

The causative agent is the gram-positive bacillus, which is considered ubiquitous. Lives and reproduces in the intestines of animals and people, and does not cause any harm to its host. The largest number of tetanus bacillus in areas with developed agriculture. It lives in the ground, in gardens, vegetable gardens, fields, pastures, where there is contamination with fecal excrement.

Causes and methods of tetanus infection:

• deep puncture wounds, pocket wounds;
• various damage to the mucous membrane and skin (electrical injuries);
• splinters, pricks with sharp objects or plants with thorns (especially in the leg area), traces after vaccination;
• burns, or, conversely, frostbite;
• the presence of gangrene, abscesses and abscesses, bedsores, ulcers;
• injections for which sterility was not observed;
• bites of poisonous spiders and other animals;
• the use of non-sterile instruments when cutting the umbilical cord after the birth of a baby (the most common cases of infection in children who were born not in a hospital, but at home, especially in rural areas).

Depending on the method of infection, tetanus is:

1. 1 traumatic (physical or mechanical damage to the skin);
2. 2 tetanus, which has developed against the background of inflammatory and destructive processes in the body (due to ulcers, bedsores);
3. 3 cryptogenic (tetanus with an incomprehensible entrance gate of infection).

Types of tetanus depending on the location:

• generalized (general) – affects all muscles of a person, an example is Brunner’s tetanus;
• local (facial muscles are affected) – very rare.

The primary symptoms of tetanus are:

1. 1 headache;
2. 2 increased sweating;
3. 3 twitching, tingling, muscle tension in the area of ​​the wound (even if the wound or scratch at that time was healed);
4. 4 painful swallowing;
5. 5 poor appetite;
6. 6 sleep disturbance;
7. 7 back pain;
8. 8 chills or fever.

The main symptoms are:

• the chewing and facial muscles contract convulsively;
• strongly clenched teeth;
• “Sardonic smile” (facial expression shows both crying and smiling);
• spasms of the muscles of the pharynx (due to which the swallowing function is impaired);
• muscles of the abdomen, back, neck are in constant tension;
• curved body (the back becomes an arc in such a way that you can put an arm or a roller under the back without raising the patient);
• seizures (during them, the face becomes bluish and puffy, drops of sweat fall in a hail, the patient bends – keeps on the heels and on the back of the head);
• constant feeling of fear;
• impaired urination and defecation (the exit of feces from the body);
• disturbances in the work of the heart, lungs.

Forms of the course of the disease and their symptoms:

1. 1 Mild – This form of the disease is rare and is common in people who have been previously vaccinated. The main symptoms are mild, the body temperature is often normal, sometimes increased to 38 degrees;
2. 2 Average – the temperature is always elevated, but insignificantly, cramps do not appear often and muscle tension is moderate;
3. 3 Severe – the patient is tormented by frequent and severe seizures, his facial expression is constantly distorted, the temperature is high (sometimes there are cases of an increase up to 42);
4. 4 Particularly severe – the sections of the medulla oblongata and the upper sections of the spinal cord are affected, the work of the respiratory, cardiovascular systems is impaired. This form includes gynecological and bulbar (Brunner’s tetanus), neonatal tetanus.

The recovery period can take up to 2 months, it is during this period that the disease can give all sorts of complications in the form of:

• bronchitis;
• pneumonia;
• sepsis;
• myocardial infarction;
• dislocations and fractures of bones;
• rupture of ligaments and tendons;
• thrombosis;
• tachycardia;
• changes in the shape of the spine (compression changes in the spine can last for two years).

If you do not carry out timely, and most importantly, correct treatment, the patient may die from suffocation or myocardial paralysis. These are the 2 most important causes of tetanus death.

Attention!

The administration is not responsible for any attempt to use the information provided, and does not guarantee that it will not harm you personally. The materials cannot be used to prescribe treatment and make a diagnosis. Always consult your specialist doctor!