In life, stumbling and stumbling happen from time to time, and accidents are inevitable. But some wounds can not only cause infection, but can also cause tetanus.
Tetanus, most commonly seen in trauma and burns, is an acute, specific infection caused by the invasion of the body through the wound by the bacterium Clostridium tetani. Once the patient has tetanus, the patient often has trismus, continuous rigidity and paroxysmal spasms of the whole skeletal muscle, and in severe cases, it can cause dyspnea, dysphagia, organ failure, and even death!
According to statistics, the fatality rate of tetanus is as high as 40%, so it is important to prevent tetanus infection. The World Health Organization reports that about 1 million people die from tetanus each year worldwide, and the most common tetanus in life is caused by improper wound management. From this, it can be seen that tetanus is not far away!
Which wounds are prone to tetanus
Infection?
Clostridium tetani is an anaerobic bacterium that grows and multiplies easily in the absence of oxygen or in the presence of deep wounds with aerobic infection, so it is generally accepted that all wounds except small clean wounds are tetanus-susceptible wounds, especially those that have been treated for more than 6 hours and those contaminated with foreign bodies (e.g., soil, faeces, sputum or saliva). It is especially important to remind everyone that severe, small and deep wounds are more likely to develop tetanus infection.
How can I prevent tetanus infection?
Step 1: Wound management.
Thorough debridement early after injury is one of the key measures. The injured person should remove the irritating foreign body or dirt in the wound as soon as possible to avoid bacteria entering the body and inducing infection. But the premise is that it must be safe! If you can't judge and operate on your own, you must seek medical attention as soon as possible.
For mild wounds, they can be self-rinsed, and for severe wounds, they need to be treated in a hospital. If in the field, drinking water may be the preferred wound irrigation solution. In addition, other drugs are generally not recommended after wound irrigation except for wounds that are at risk of rabies exposure. For injuries in the wild, after simple treatment, it is necessary to go to the hospital for follow-up treatment.
Step 2: Get vaccinated to prevent infection.
Humans have no natural immunity to tetanus and need to be immunized. Tetanus is currently the only noncommunicable disease that can be prevented by vaccine. Therefore, it is important to take preventive immunizations as soon as possible after an injury.
After an injury, what should the tetanus vaccine be
When to fight? Do you have to fight after being injured?
Tetanus vaccine?
The sooner the tetanus vaccine is given after injury, the better, usually no more than 24 hours. Because tetanus infection has an incubation period, even if it is more than 24 hours old in exceptional circumstances, the tetanus vaccine can be used to prevent it, and even if it occurs, the symptoms are mild. Therefore, it is recommended to get the tetanus vaccine as soon as possible! The need for tetanus vaccine should be determined by the exposure of the wound and previous immunization.
How can I tell if a wound is exposed?
Wounds are generally divided into three types: clean wounds, unclean wounds, and contaminated wounds. A clean wound is a simple wound that is located in an area of the body that is less colonized by bacteria and is treated immediately after the injury (such as a blade cut). An unclean wound is a wound that is located in an area of the body that is heavily colonized by bacteria (e.g. armpits, groin, perineum, etc.), or a simple wound that has not been treated for more than 6 hours (increased chance of infection). Contaminated wounds are wounds that have been contaminated with clay, feces, etc., or have become infected.
What is a pre-existing immunization?
The core problem is that we need to know when it has been since the last active immunization. In fact, most people have been actively immunized when they were young, and the diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine injected in infancy and toddler contains tetanus vaccine. The tetanus vaccine is made up of tetanus toxoid, and when injected into the body, we slowly produce antibodies to prevent tetanus. Active immunity is characterized by slow onset of action, and generally requires 3 injections to obtain sufficient antibody titers to fight tetanus toxin, but at the same time it lasts for a long time, generally 5~10 years.
What are the circumstances in which the tetanus vaccine can be dispensed with?
▲ Within 5 years from the last active immunization, regardless of the degree of wound contamination.
▲ 5~10 years from the last active immunization, the wound type is a clean wound.
How to choose medicine to prevent tetanus?
There are two main types of drugs used to prevent tetanus: the aforementioned active immunology, the tetanus vaccine, and the passive immunotherapy, including tetanus antitoxin and tetanus immune globulin. In addition to the conditions mentioned above, drug therapy is required, and the choice of specific drug depends on the type of wound and previous immunization.
It is extremely important for everyone to remember exactly when they were last immunized! The doctor will choose the medication according to the time of active immunization and the condition of the wound to avoid tetanus infection. In addition, we should also pay attention to the medicine to prevent tetanus can easily cause allergic reactions, and it is recommended to wait for 30 minutes after the injection and leave the hospital if there is no abnormality.
Military personnel, police officers, students of military academies and police academies, construction workers, field workers (petroleum, electricity, railways, etc.), cooks, etc., who have not been actively immunized before or have been actively immunized less than 3 times, need to be immunized in advance to prevent tetanus infection caused by injury.
Content Sources:
People's Medical Publishing House published "Critical Moment Can Save Lives - Emergency Medication Must Know"
Editor-in-Chief of the book series:
Zhao Jie, chief pharmacist and professor of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, an expert of the National Health Science Popularization Expert Database
Author of this article:
Wu Dongyuan, Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Harbin Medical University
Looking forward to seeing you
share
Looking