Symptoms and prevention of tetanus infection

Tetanus is one of the dangerous diseases with a high risk of death. However, the diagnosis of the disease is difficult because many cases when the doctor goes to the hospital, the wound cannot be found or the wound has healed but still has a tetanus infection.

Tetanus (English name is “Tetanus”) is an acute disease caused by the bacterium Clostridium tetani, commonly found in dirty soil, sewers, and animal feces that enters the body through wounds. When these bacteria enter the body and multiply, secreting an exotoxin called Tetanus exotoxin that affects the central nervous system, causing symptoms such as muscle spasms, convulsions, respiratory failure. inhalation, causing a tetanus infection.
Common causes of tetanus infection include:
Deep wounds from nails, knives, debris from dirty wood and animal bites. Women are also at increased risk of tetanus infection if contaminated instruments are used during delivery or abortion. Newborns can become infected with tetanus if the equipment used to cut the umbilical cord, care for the umbilicus, or the midwife's hands are not clean. Young children can also become infected when using unsanitary medical equipment to circumcise the foreskin, make skin incisions and apply unclean things to wounds.

Tetanus can occur in men and women of all ages, but is concentrated in hyperactive adolescents, farmers susceptible to skin wounds and also those who do not have vaccinations. Full tetanus please.
In addition, newborns are also susceptible to tetanus because they were born in conditions that do not meet sanitary standards, have not been properly cared for in the umbilical cord with hygienic conditions, leading to tetanus infection in the umbilicus. This is called neonatal tetanus.

Tetanus infection is a dangerous condition with a very high risk of death up to 30-40%. This rate is 10 times higher than in adults because the newborn baby's body is still immature and not strong enough to fight bacteria. If a child is lucky enough to have a critical time, he or she will still experience sequelae, conditions such as:
Muscle spasms and convulsions can lead to muscle bleeding May lead to fractures of the spine or other bones. Hypertension, cardiovascular collapse, cardiac arrhythmia, coma Respiratory failure, pneumonia and other infections (septicemia, skin infection, gastrointestinal bleeding...) High mortality in children me and the elderly...

Tetanus infection is divided into stages with specific signs:
Incubation period: The incubation period is usually about 3 - 10 days but can also last up to 3 weeks. The shorter the incubation period, the higher the risk of death. The onset of the disease: The initial symptom of tetanus is spasm of the chewing muscle (jaw muscle), the patient will gradually feel fatigued in the jaw, the tongue is bent, the tongue is numb and difficult to swallow, and finally, the mouth cannot be opened. eating and drinking faced many obstacles. When the disease is more severe, it can lead to muscle spasms in other areas such as the face, nape, neck, and spine, leading to the patient's symptoms of curving, leaning back like a burden. This is the reason why tetanus is also known as leprosy. In addition, patients can also experience generalized convulsions, have complications such as spinal fractures, fractures due to multiple convulsions, pneumonia when coma and lie too much, skin infections. This phase lasts from a few months to a whole year.

Do not be subjective with small injuries because it can lead to unpredictable harm. Tetanus bacteria often cause disease in bruised wounds, in an oxygen-deficient environment, so what needs to be done after being scratched is to clean the wound with an antiseptic solution, release all foreign bodies, if If there are stains, try to wash them to remove the stains. Wounds with necrotic tissue or non-healing margins should go to a medical facility for proper treatment. Women during childbirth should pay attention to ensure aseptic, newborn babies need to clean the umbilical cord carefully to eliminate the risk of tetanus infection. Vaccination against tetanus is always considered the most effective way to prevent tetanus. In general, active prevention is still better than passive, so you should protect yourself, vaccinate right from the time you are not injured so that the body has immunity against the disease when needed. In addition, pregnant women are also special subjects who need to be vaccinated against tetanus to prevent tetanus for the mother and neonatal tetanus for the baby.
To register for examination and treatment at Vinmec International General Hospital, you can contact Vinmec Health System nationwide, or register online HERE

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