Symptoms of Tetanus?

by Symptom Advice on December 12, 2010

What are the symptoms of a person with tetanus?

Can someone get tetanus from a mosquito, wasp or bee sting?

Is tetanus fatal?

Tetanus often begins with muscle spasms in the jaw (called trismus), and can be accompanied by difficulty swallowing and stiffness or pain in the muscles of the neck, shoulders, or back. These spasms can spread to the muscles of the abdomen, upper arms, and thighs. The symptoms can occur anywhere from days to months after exposure to the bacteria.
kidshealth.org/parent/infecti…

Because bees puncture the skin with their stingers, there is a risk of tetanus infection. after getting the regular series of childhood tetanus shots, adults should have a tetanus booster shot every 10 years.
fda.gov/fdac/features/2004/30…

Treatment
Treatment may include use of a tetanus antitoxin, such as tetanus immune globulin (TIG). However, the antitoxin can neutralize only toxin that hasn't yet combined with nerve tissue. Your doctor may also give you antibiotics, either orally or by injection, to fight tetanus bacteria. You'll also need to receive a tetanus vaccine in order to prevent future tetanus infection.

Tetanus infection often requires a long period of treatment in an intensive care setting. You may need drugs to sedate you and to paralyze your muscles, and that may result in shallow breathing that needs to be supported temporarily by a ventilator.

In most cases of tetanus, the illness is severe and widespread, and there's a risk of death despite treatment. Death may result from constriction of airways, pneumonia or instability in the autonomic nervous system. The autonomic nervous system is the part of your nervous system that controls your heart muscles, other involuntary muscles and glands.

People who've had tetanus often recover completely. However, some people have lasting effects, such as brain damage caused by a lack of oxygen when muscle spasms in the throat cut off the airway.
mayoclinic.com/health/tetanus…

Question #1: There are 47 symptoms so I will list only the early symptoms. Headache, spasm or cramping of the jaw muscles. As the toxin spreads there may be, in less severe cases, localized twitching muscle spasms of the neck, arms, legs and stomach. in severe, generalized cases, there may be seizures.

Question #2: Tetanus can be acquired due to insect bites or stings.

Question #3: it can be. 3 out 10 die from it.

Run a search for tetanus and learn more about it.

FYI: Trismus is lockjaw, the inability to open the mouth. This is the most dangerous symptoms as it can lead to suffocation.

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