Just my luck… I get bit by a dog at the local dog park and my last tetanus booster shot was in 1999. Though the vaccine can last as long as ten years, experts suggest a booster every seven or eight years to be on the safe side.
Tetanus — also known as lockjaw — is a disease caused by bacteria that can be found in dust, soil, and manure. These bacteria live all over the world and can enter the human body through even the tiniest wound. You may associate the disease with stepping on a rusty nail — I know I do — but many other wounds can lead to a tetanus infection. Animal bites and backyard scrapes can give the bacteria access to your body. You cannot catch tetanus from another person or from receiving the vaccine or booster.
Symptoms of tetanus can appear as quickly as three days after exposure or as long as three weeks. On average, symptoms appear in about eight days. These symptoms include:
- Headache
- Stiffness of the jaw — where the disease gets its nickname
- Difficulty swallowing
- Severe muscle spasms
- Stiffness of the abdominal muscles
- Sweating and fever
Perhaps the most dangerous symptom is the lockjaw — it can lead to suffocation. Approximately eleven percent of reported tetanus cases end in death, and are often in people aged sixty and older.
Medications and/or surgery can clear up the disease; just because you’ve had tetanus does not mean you are immune. You can catch it again! Tetanus vaccinations and regular booster shots are the only way to ensure that you won’t get it again.
The vaccinations are usually given in childhood and are given in a series of three. Boosters are needed every ten years or so. My last tetanus booster was in 1999, when I needed stitches after putting my hand through a window. It was close enough to the ten year mark that I got another one over the weekend. I think the shot actually hurt worse than the dog bite.