vaccine - curious question

[Soundguy]

I have a bit of a curious question about a tetanus shot. Info seems hard to track down via internet.. or medical profesional.

I take it the TS is actually something to help your body deal with the tetanus toxin.. such as helping it build an antigen? As opposed to helping your body fight off the actual tetanus bacteria thru an antibody?

Also.. what is the 'effective' time frame from when a person recieves the vacination, till a usefull level of imune response will / can occour. I.e, how long does it take from introduction of the vaccine, till it will do you any good.

likewise, what is the time frame ( incubation period? ) from initial infection with tetanus, till onset of symptoms.

Sitting here with my sore arm.. I started thinking about these minutia.. and could find no answers.. either online or otherwise.

Any MD's or other health profesionals care to comment?

thanks

Soundguy

 

[MrJimi]

SoundGuy, try this link

THE MERCK MANUAL MEDICAL LIBRARY: The Merck Manual of Medical Information--Home Edition

Jim

 

[IslandTractor]

Tetanus vaccine is actually aimed at neutralizing the toxin, not preventing the infection. It does so by producing an antitoxin antibody. The "toxoid" in the vaccine is the antigen which your body produces the antibody to. A toxoid is a real toxin that has been either chemically or heat treated to remove the toxic properties while retaining the antigenic potential that will stimulate your immune system. There is also an antibody product (human tetanus immune globulin) which can be administered to patients with tetanus but that is not necessary unless symptoms are present.

Tetanus infection has a variable incubation period of a few days to several months but most cases occur a couple of weeks after injury. As the human immune response to the toxoid vaccine is less than that, the booster vaccine just insures that you'll have good levels of antibody just in case a few C. tetani organisms contaminated your wound. Overwhelming infection is not the issue with tetanus, rather it is the neurologic disease due to the released toxin that does the damage.

Now for the real question: what did you do to yourself that required a tetanus booster?

 

[gsganzer]

Sitting here with my sore arm.. stiffness of the jaw, restlessness, difficulty in swallowing, irritability, headache, fever, sore throat, chills, and muscle spasms and stiffness in the neck, arms, and legs. I started thinking about these minutia.. and could find no answers.. either online or otherwise.

Any MD's or other health profesionals care to comment?

thanks

Soundguy

I couldn't resist adding the symptoms into your post. I just had visions of you sitting around watching the symptoms develop one by one, and contemplating when you should go to the Dr. My wife says I'm one of the worst at refusing to go to the Dr. when I get hurt or have a cold.

That's why I get a tetanus shot at least every 10 years during one of my physicals. Immunity is certainly not something I want to be second guessing after getting a mild or moderate cut or scrape.

 

[roxynoodle]

I have been told 10 years, too, but my doctor seems to want to boost it every 5. I'm going to guess I'm not much different than other rural homeowners and do get cut by metal or step on nails more often than I would like. If you have cut yourself or punctured yourself with anything rusty and you think it has been 5 years or more since you had one, go get one. Even if your health insurance doesn't cover it, it is like $25. Definitely worth it!

 

[IslandTractor]

I have been told 10 years, too, but my doctor seems to want to boost it every 5.

10 years is routine for anyone. You will likely be given a booster if you have gone more than 5 years and present with a cut or penetrating injury that is deemed more than low risk for tetanus contamination. Most any cut acquired on a farm or outdoors would be considered risky.

 

[Soundguy]

Now for the real question: what did you do to yourself that required a tetanus booster?

Thanks for the info.

As to what/when/why, there is a post in this forum about my 'accident'. The short of it is that a rooster spur'ed me and embedded about an inch of spur inmy back.. it broke off.. had to go to the doc.. get antibiotics / tetanus shot.. etc. Wound -appears- to be healing nicely. Arm is a tad sore still.

Soundguy

 

[dmccarty]

Wound -appears- to be healing nicely. Arm is a tad sore still.

Oh Boy. Sorry to hear that the arm is sore but I'm sure its nothing to worry about. In fact, I'm positive everything is ok.

But there is a medical condition, called Pullus Tripudio syndrome, that you might want to know about. One of the first symptoms is limb pain near the site of injury. Arms start to pull in a the elbows so that the hands move into the armpits. Then a tremor develops so that the arms have an almost uncontrollable urge to move up and down. At the same time the the legs start to bend at the knees so that the afflicted have to walk with a shuffle like hopping motion that is also hard to control. In some cases people think that there body hair changes in a condition known as Pluma syndrome. Often times the condition can be further be classified as Rhode Insula Rutilus.

As the illness progresses the ability to speak degrades such that the afflicted can only utter single syllable sounds that sounds like cluck.

Often the Pullus Tripudio syndrome is execerbated by excessive drinking

As the illness progresses specific music is heard over and over in the afflicted's head. Here is an example.

http://www.oldworld.ws/chickendance.mid

The good news is that Pullus Tripudio syndrome is not fatal and after a day maybe two the affliction goes away. However some people seem to have a recurance every year in October. So be careful. Be very careful.

Later,
Dan
PS. For those of us lacking in Latin I'll translate some of the syndrome into English
Pullus Tripudio - Chicken Dance.
Pluma - Feathers.
Rhode Insula Rutilus - Rhode Island Red.

 

[Soundguy]

Yeah.. I told my wife that if this was a sci-fi movie.. that I'd now start growing feathers and turn into a big rooster..... etc..

Soundguy

 

[BB_TX]

My wife was recently stung on the back of her arm after digging around in a closet. We suspect it was a scorpion, although she never saw it. Swelled up and turned red and started having a rash all over. Real allergic reaction to it. Went to the doctor. He looked at it and said it was definitely a sting, not a bite by a spider or something. He gave her antibiotics, steriods, and a tetanus shot. Said since something had penetrated the skin, she needed the tetanus shot. Never heard of that for a sting.