Tetanus : introduction, Cause, symptoms, treatment

Tetanus : introduction, Cause, symptoms, treatment

Introduction
Tetanus is one of the most dangerous infectious diseases among humans. Which is caused by bacteria called Clostridium tetani. The bacteria, Clostridium tetani, is present in air, water, animal and human intestines, and especially in soil. Bacteria enter the patient's wound in very small numbers. When these bacteria enter the body, they produce a toxin that causes painful contractions in the muscles of the patient's body. The patient has convulsions in the whole body due to which the patient experiences a violent death.

Causes and How It Spreads

The bacterium is present in the form of spores in the intestines of many animals and humans. However, intestinal infection does not occur. 

The organism is excreted in the faeces into the soil, from where the spores enter the human body via several anaerobic routes. As-

1. wound contamination with dirt, poop, or saliva
2. Rusty nails ( Rusty nails are a danger because the spores can stick to the rough edges of the nail)
3. Deep punctures wound caused by any object or nail.
4. Chronic sores and infection

On entering the body, these spores develop into bacteria. Unlike bacterial and viral diseases that can be prevented by vaccines and that can spread easily from person to person, tetanus does not spread from person to person.

Symptoms

Its symptoms develop very rapidly. Its symptoms start appearing in the patient within a few hours after entering the body. Once inside vegetative cells, the spores produce a number of toxins, including a high molecular weight protein called "tetanospasmin". The toxin spreads through the bloodstream and along the axon of nerve cells to nerve endings where it inhibits the removal of acetylcholine at the synapse.

Symptoms of tetanus include:

1. Muscle contraction
2. Muscle stiffness
3. Sudden, involuntary muscle spasms (often in the stomach)
4. Trouble swallowing
5. Seizures
6. Headache
7. Fever and sweating
8. Changes in blood pressure and heart rate

One of the most common symptoms of this infection is the tightening of the muscles of the patient's jaw. The back soon becomes arched, the jaw clenched and a fixed smile on the face, these symptoms giving the disease its traditional name of "lockjaw".

Tetanus can cause death (1 or 2 out of 10 cases can be fatal).

It is surprising that the bacterium is saprobe rather than parasite as long they live only in dead anaerobic matter. They are motile Gram-positive rods, that may exist for many years in soil as spores. The disease incidence is high in India, where ear piercing is common and where umbilical sump of newborns is sometimes dressed with soil.

Diagnosis and Treatment

Diagnosis

Tetanus can be diagnosed by asking about recent cuts, scrapes, punctures, and trauma, and by examining certain signs and symptoms. Apart from this, no such experiment has been done so that tetanus can be confirmed.

Treatment

Tetanus is a medical emergency that requires:

1. Treatment with a medicine called human tetanus immune globulin (TIG)
2. wound care
3. Medicines to control muscle spasms
4. Antibiotics
5. Vaccination
6. Assessment and care is important

For suffering persons antitoxins, to neutralize the remaining toxins, and penicillin's are given.