tetanus vaccination

[fresh]

if a person got tetanus accidentlly but he is severely allergic to tetanus vaccination, are there any other ways to save his life ?

 

if tetanus vaccine allergy is found only after the patient is given the shot, how dangerous it is ? is it fatal ?

thanks.

Edited March 21, 2013 by fresh

[fertilizerspike]

if a person got tetanus accidentlly but he is severely allergic to tetanus vaccination, are there any other ways to save his life ?

 

if tetanus vaccine allergy is found only after the patient is given the shot, how dangerous it is ? is it fatal ?

thanks.

 

The mortality rate of untreated tetanus is about 25%, if I'm not too much mistaken. If even rudimentary medical treatment is administered (not injections of vaccines) the mortality rate drops to well below 10%. This low mortality rate combined with the extremely low incidence of tetanus means that taking a tetanus vaccine is akin to playing russian roulette. It may not hurt you, but it won't do you any good and might kill you.

 

Oh, also, tetanus is primarily treated with antibiotics with a very high success rate.

Edited April 2, 2013 by fertilizerspike

[Arete]

This low mortality rate combined with the extremely low incidence of tetanus means that taking a tetanus vaccine is akin to playing russian roulette.

 

The risk of a serious allergic reaction to the DTaP vaccine is less than one in a million. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/meds/a682198.html

 

The mortality rate for tetanus in an ICU in Brazil ranged from 36.5% - 18%. http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00134-002-1332-4#page-1

Regardless of what you assert - that's an exceptionally high relative mortality rate for a bacterial infection. For a comparison - the mortality rate for botulism is around 8%. http://diseases.emedtv.com/botulism/botulism-p4.html

 

The DTaP vaccine also provides immunity against Diphtheria and Pertussis - which also have high mortality rates for infectious diseases.

 

Your assertion that the DTaP vaccine has no benefits and substantial risks is pretty absurd.

Edited April 2, 2013 by Arete

[Dekan]

Why don't we vaccinate all babies, as soon as they're born? Then they couldn't get any diseases. So the diseases would quickly die out, and wouldn't afflict us any more.

[pwagen]

Why don't we vaccinate all babies, as soon as they're born? Then they couldn't get any diseases. So the diseases would quickly die out, and wouldn't afflict us any more.

That's a bit optimistic. There are still a range of diseases we don't have a vaccine for. So even if we did use everything in our arsenal, we would still get sick. And that is mostly a good thing. Exposure to germs and other nasty little buggers solidifies our immune systems. Of course, there are some diseases that you really don't want anyway.

 

Also, even if we do had vaccines for everything, I doubt it would be economically sensible to use them for everything, including harmless and mostly harmless diseases.

 

Edit: Oh! And as far as eradicating diseases through vaccination, polio is a good example. But polio was also a very dangerous thing.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poliomyelitis

Edited April 2, 2013 by pwagen

[John Cuthber]

If you vaccinated everyone against tetanus the disease wouldn't die out in the way smallpox did..

The bacteria that cause tetanus are found living freely in the soil.

 

To answer the OP, it would be possible to treat the infection with antibiotics and try to suppress the convulsions with drugs but I'd not like to have to bet on it.

 

And, to answer Fertiliser spike's post.

You are mainly wrong.

[CharonY]

Why don't we vaccinate all babies, as soon as they're born? Then they couldn't get any diseases. So the diseases would quickly die out, and wouldn't afflict us any more.

As pwagen stated, eradication of bacterial diseases are only likely for those bacteria that are dependent on their human host for survival. Those that can also propagate outside can be kept in check with vaccination, but chances are that they will persist.

In addition to that, vaccinations are not a 100% protection. They prime your immune system to effectively fight off infections, but as with all biological interactions, they are results are not absolute (though in many cases pretty close).

 

With regards to vaccination of newborns, the immune system of babies are not fully developed. Generally it takes around two months until antibody production is really starting in the newborn and up to six month until higher levels are achieved (up until that point they are heavily dependent on the passive protection offered from the mother e.g. via breastfeeding). Also the protection of vaccinations can decline over time and have to be refreshed.

 

Also it should be noted that stimulating immune responses can be a burden on the body. In adults this is not an issue, but for newborns, who are not really fully developed yet, one has to be a bit careful by how much it should be stimulated in one go.

Edited April 4, 2013 by CharonY

[fresh]

what's the material of stapler's staples ? It got rusty and pricked my finger, then blood came out. Is it OK not to see a doctor ?

(I am not hypochondriac.)

Edited June 11, 2014 by fresh

[MonDie]

 

Oh, also, tetanus is primarily treated with antibiotics with a very high success rate.

 

I think this might be wrong. Straight from my notes:

 

"Endospores are resistant to extremes and antibiotics. This is a problem because endospore-forming bacteria produce toxins responsible for fatal diseases such as tetanus, gangrene, and anthrax."

[barfbag]

In my country everyone gets Free Tetanus Vaccine as a child. I have never heard of any dangers from Vaccine until this thread, but I've never met anyone who had Tetanus either. Booster shots are not as common and usually only if you step on a rusty nail or some such.

Edited June 14, 2014 by barfbag

[CharonY]

Treatment of tetanus is very involved and includes targeting the toxin produced by the bacterium (Clostridium tetani). Considering that the use of antibiotics has given rise to resistant strains, of which clostridia are a severe problem (especially due to their spores) anything else but vaccines is not sustainable.

[MonDie]

Thanks!

 

In case you didn't notice, Fresh is actually the one who brought this thread back.

 

 

what's the material of stapler's staples ? It got rusty and pricked my finger, then blood came out. Is it OK not to see a doctor ?

(I am not hypochondriac.)

Edited June 15, 2014 by MonDie

[fresh]

I am seriously allergic to tetanus shot. There is no treatment for patients like me ? ?

[Acme]

what's the material of stapler's staples ? It got rusty and pricked my finger, then blood came out. Is it OK not to see a doctor ?

(I am not hypochondriac.)

Such small injuries do not routinely require a doctor. Wash and cover the wound. If it doesn't heal, then consider a doctor. (Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, but I was once a Boy Scout.)

.

I am seriously allergic to tetanus shot. There is no treatment for patients like me ? ?

How would you know unless you received a tetanus shot and had a reaction to it? I suspect that even if you did have a reaction to a tetanus shot that you are still protected. But there is no reason to assume your staple wound exposed you to tetanus, so I wouldn't worry until or unless you start to look like this:

source

[fresh]

I am 100% sure i am allergic to tetanus shot, because it is the doctor who told my parents many years ago I can not get tetanus shot when I was cut on my forehead and hospitalized for a couple of days.