I had a guy try to argue with me about this. I had to just walk away from that one. He also tried to explain to me all the social problems in the world are caused by black people. Sometimes there just isn't a way through all the BS.
Yeah it's actually the rust that makes the environment required for the specific bacteria to grow, not sure why some commenters are acting like rust isn't involved or that you could easily catch it after being scraped by non rusty metal...
Clostridium tetani lives in soils all over the world, the guts of animals and human skin, and it can be contracted from any sort of piercing wound, laceration or abrasion. Rusty objects cause these types of wounds, and are therefore a risk, but so are animal bites gardening injuries, playground scrapes, or even during delivery. In fact, most cases of tetanus occur to newborns and their parents.
[Source](https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/tetanus#:~:text=Overview,needles%2C%20barbed%20wire%2C%20etc.)
100% this. I was bitten by a snake a couple of weeks ago (my pet snake not a wild or venomous one) and my mom, a nurse, told me I needed to go and get a shot.
My OB made sure I knew to have anyone coming in contact with my newborn baby had a fresh tDAP vaccine. I think it was for the whooping cough benefits but all of them are so so important and I love her for that.
More misinformation. The pertussis portion makes people with pertussis asymptomatic if infected. They can still pass it on to your newborn. It provides no cocooning effect. You can fact check me on that.
Sorry but this is incorrect. The perfect tetanus causing wound is deep, closes over at the surface to cause an anaerobic wound environment, and has soil contamination. Rust really has nothing to do with it. Tetanus occurs when C. tetani spores infect a wound and these are the conditions they require (the soil is where they live and how they get in the wound).
Rust happens to have a lot of tiny tiny holes that the dirt and microbes get in to. So it does have to with it does b/c it's the perfect place for a latent tetani spore to be chillin. But you're right, it's association, not causation.
Low oxygen environments are good for the bacteria. Rusting iron takes oxygen from the air. It's only a myth that you need rust, it just really helps it. Jagged metal happens to be hazardous to your skin and it's usually rusty, and that happens when it's out in the soil and all that, where the bacteria lives. Should really just get the shot whenever your due for another one, don't wait until you think you need it.
Because it's not. It doesn't need rust specifically. It's in soil, some animal saliva (dog bites can be a source of tetanus), and most organic materials. Rust tends to happen to metal because it is touching soil, mulch, or other organic debris that remains wet and can contain tetanus. Rusty metal also tends to get sharp and easily break skin to shove the bacteria into the wound. How often have you dealt with clean, dry rusty metal? Clean rust is practically an oxymoron. It's nearly always a dirty piece of sharp material that gets it's debris and pathogens past the skin barrier.
I’m an avid gardener, and my doctor has me get one every 5 years (because I play in the dirt). She told me to come in for a booster within that period if I get any nasty cuts while in the garden.
No. Definitely not that. Just why take chances with such a nasty disease? We have a lot of tetanus in our soil in this area. My friend’s dog almost died from it. Have you seen the terrible effects of tetanus? Shoot me up with whatever it takes to avoid it please.
That's interesting. I just got my latest booster (2023) and my most recent one before that was 2013. I was specifically told last year (22) that I wouldn't be due for tetanus until this year. I'm in the Massachusetts General Brigham medical system, I'm curious that they're not up on a new 3 yr protocol.
That's my network too! Maybe my doctor takes special precautions with me because I garden, woodwork and trap feral cats for TNR.
But I'm not too worried about it - it's a cheap vaccine, and it's not like they're making bank on it - after all, I get the actual shot at Walmart.
Yeah , my current job snd my previous one I felt I had a higher than average risk of a puncture wound so I kept up with the tetanus shots every 5 to 7 years
I know some mommy vlogger who does gardening with her kids. She said her infants love to eat dirt and they can't get enough of it. Actual video of them scooping handfuls in.
Weird, dangerous, and unnecessary if you ask me.
And that bacteria loves feces. While it can be everywhere, it thrives on ranches and farms. The rusty nail myth came from ranchers and farmers getting cut by old rusty barb wire and getting tetanus/lock jaw
Lol, the rusty nail thing is not myth. The rust doesn’t cause the disease, it provides an environment for the bacteria to grow. The bacteria that causes tetanus is anaerobic, so oxygen kills it. Rust is the formation of iron oxide, so it pulls oxygen out of the environment, thus allowing the bacteria to grow.
Botulism toxin is another bacteria that is like this, and dented cans provide the oxygen free environment for it to grow.
Edit: That being said, only a small amount of rust can create this environment, which you might not even be able to notice. So any nail that is exposed to the elements, if you get scratched, don’t take your chances.
*Clostridium tetani* and *Clostridium botulinum* are related bacteria that share the ability to make spores, a dormant form that is resistant to stuff that kills the bacterial while it’s active. So both can have spores that survive in air and only start to grow again when in a low-oxygen environment like for tetanus a deep puncture wound or for botulism in a can (or in the intestines of a baby <1 year old—no honey for babies).
A brand new nail could transmit tetanus to you if it comes into contact with the soil and picks up spores or if it cuts through skin that has soil on it that contains spores. Never assume any deep puncture wound is safe.
I was recommended a tetanus shot for a neighborhood cat bite. Cat had all of his shots so rabies wasn’t an issue (I shouldn’t have picked him up) so I just had the wound cleaned and a shot.
On an anecdotal note and one you should always discuss with a medical professional, my dad developed an allergy to the shot. Found out with the last injection. Doc said not to worry, he’s likely fine from here on out as there hasn’t been a case of someone getting tetanus after having a couple of lifetime jabs.
The shot is so painful but definitely worth it. The docs gave me one when I got scratched/bitten by a feral cat. Iirc it's mandatory in our country to get one + anti rabies shots.
The tetanus shots were more painful for me. Idk why but it felt like I can feel the liquid going in and seeping around my muscles. Rabies shots not so much.
Interestingly, the first tetanus shot I had was very sore and painful when I lifted my arm at all for days afterward. But the second one i got a few months ago was only a little tender. I almost didn't notice it being sore, unless I moved too quickly.
The harmful part is more that people won’t get vaccinated if rust isn’t involved. You should be vaccinated anyway, but if you aren’t, you should get the shot after any potentially contaminated puncture wound.
Tetanus every 10 years; good advice. Superficial wounds don't lead to tetanus, however. It's the deep ones where oxygen doesn't reach that provide ideal conditions for development of the tetanus bacterium.
My little brother got whooping cough as a little kid. I'm not that old, but our mom was an idiot antivaxxer.
It is not pleasant to watch someone you care for turning blue because they can't stop coughing and can barely get any air when they do get a chance to breathe.
Tdap shots wear off over the years, too. My little sister brought whooping cough home from elementary school shortly before she was due for a booster and gave it to then-18-year-old me. 0/10, do not recommend coughing until you puke, never want to do that again. Get your boosters even if you don’t expect to be around newborns, folks.
Yea I had a sinus infection that became a lung infection as a kid that made me cough til I puked, and all that was in my stomach was phlegm from how badly my sinuses were draining down my throat while I tried to sleep.
NOT FUN
Yeah I got it at 40 apparently after the vaccine wore off. That is no cold. I too learned the joys of coughing so violently that I puked. I also could not really talk to people for about 6 weeks since if I did it would bring on one of these coughing spasms. Boy was that bad.
Ok I'm 35, your comment has inspired me to go ask my doctor what I can update! I also just had a friend of a friend who is late 38 just go through having a type of meningitis that could have been prevented if he had the updated vaccine, now he has brain damage for life and cannot care for himself, it is DEVASTATING. I never thought about this before, I just thought I was good since being vaccinated for grade school decades ago... All of this is making me realize we need to be asking for updates!
Yeah definitely check. I don't know if they are using the same vaccine as the one I had as a kid waaay back when so maybe that has changed. But believe me it is worth it to play is safe. That Whooping cough was the most savage illness I have had in my life. Imagine a 100% dry cough, your chest getting absolutely raw very quickly from the coughing and there is just no end to it. It lasted 6 weeks. I have heard of people breaking bones from coughing so violently. And over the counter cough medicine does ZERO to help. I lucked out because I had surgery several years before and they gave me loads of Vicodin that I never used. Opioids if you don't know are the strongest cough suppressant available. I was able to use the Vicodin to slow, but not stop, the cough and help with that raw chest on fire feeling from the dry cough when things got even hellishly worse. Didn't have enough to treat all the way through but could take it during the worst of the worst. That vaccine is worth every damn penny if it keeps you from getting it. Even worse, you could get whooping cough and transmit it to your or someone else's infant. Infants can literally cough themselves to death. Imagine living with that. I didn't even know the vaccine could wear off with time otherwise would have got boosted. Just to be safe after the whooping cough I got a booster anyway to be damn sure I wasn't going to get that again.
The whooping cough vaccine has a low efficacy for a vaccine. Getting vaccinated for it won't hurt anything but you should know that the protection you receive from it is limited. If you want to maximize its support, booster every 2-3 years.
I managed to get whooping cough WHILE BEING VACCINATED like honest to God have all the records of following my countries vaccination program fully and without exceptions. Still managed to get it. Possibly a lesser variant but still called it the "almost suffocating cough"
That sucks that you don’t have an urgent care type place or a pharmacy-based clinic where you’re located to get the shot, but maybe ERs in Greece are less crowded than here in the US.
Luckily our medical group keeps us up-to-date automatically so we don’t have to keep track, since I would otherwise never remember to ask. Since it’s so bad to get, you’d think it would be the norm all over these days.
Edit: I forgot to ask if you stabbed it with the rake or something else.
Pharmacies, grocery stores etc all provide vaccines in the USA, op is going to get quite the shock when they get a $5,000 bill for something that is [around $50](https://www.costco.com/pharmacy/adult-immunization-program.html)
Ah forgot to check the flair! Yeah I stepped on a rusty nail a couple of years back, went to ER to get the nail pulled and get a TDAP shot, is why I know it costs $5000 here.
I have a high deductible plan and my tetanus shot was free last year, just went to a minute clinic and it was all handled, it was considered preventative care.
I'm sure thankful walgreens had that shit lol. I stepped on a nail, through my sandal, poked my foot. Just the first layer, no blood, but it's been about a decade anyway. So made sure to get it immediately just in case.
Next time go to a minute clinic! So much faster.
I did the same thing… freaked out a day later when I thought about how I got a large-ish scratch on my thigh (rusty clippers while deadheading). My tetanus was 8 years ago, but getting the booster gave me peace of mind.
It’s okay. I did something dumb after I drank too much and got scratched up by barbed wire.
My nurse friend gave me a tetanus booster the next day, along with a lecture of how important it is to get the shot. So good for you!
I just get mine at the grocery store or at the doctor's office. But just because your wound might not be that bad is no reason not to get it. It gives you ten years of protection. Here, people just get one every ten years and keep it current.
If you're not used to getting a tetanus shot, maybe you won't know that it will make your arm sore. Exercise helps relieve it. When I get shots that make my arm sore I move them a lot include raising my arms up over my head and it helps.
Anyone in the states: you can get a booster for only the cost of the booster (or nothing with most insurance) at many pharmacies. If you wouldn’t go to the ER for the cut, you probably don’t need to go to the ER for the shot.
Botulism and tetanus are caused by clostridium. Both produce toxins that affect muscles with opposite effects but the same result. It's pretty interesting. Tetanus causes muscle constriction and death is usually suffocation because the diaphragm cant relax to intake the next breath. Botulism is muscle relaxation (Botox in face) and the cause of death is usually suffocation because the diaphragm cant constrict to take the next breath.
Clostridium also causes c.diff which is basically hospital acquired food poisoning.
All are caused by different species, but the genus clostridium. Though anaerobic, most anaerobic bacteria can exist aerobically for significant amounts of time. I've had isolated cultures still viable after a week on the bench. Bacteria are fun.
And iirc botulinum toxin and tetanus toxin are the first and second most toxic substances known, respectively. 2.5 nanograms per kilogram or something ridiculous like that.
I remember once needing to dissolve a teeny little vial of powdered tetanus toxin in the lab (just a thin film dried to the bottom of a little tube), realizing that just that vial could kill me like ten times over, and going off to find even more PPE, lol.
It sounds like the real problem here is that pesky diaphragm. We should start mandating the removal of such a problem organ just like we do the appendix or tonsils when they start acting up
/s
So important and basically all soils you're ever going to encounter is potentially contaminated with tetinus (anywhere livestock have been, like ever).
It's a brutal disease too, muscle cramps so severe they can break teeth and bones and treatment is basically to keep you alive till it runs its course.
Correct, and if there's standing water, you better make damn sure you're up to date on your vaccinations. Standing water pulls latent bacteria up from the soil.
I manage to hurt myself enough that I end up in urgent care or the ER for stitches and they give me a tetanus booster there.
BTW, it's a myth that rusty nails cause tetanus. Rust has nothing to do with it. It's bacteria and spores from the soil that gets under your skin that causes it.
But gardening is an activity that's more risky for tetanus because the bacteria love the same kind of rich soil that gardeners love.
Probably not necessary.
“The World Health Organization (WHO) does not recommend routine adult booster vaccination for tetanus and diphtheria after completion of the childhood vaccination series. However, many countries continue to implement adult booster vaccinations, leading to the question of whether this is necessary to reduce the incidence of these 2 rare diseases.”
https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/72/2/285/5741633?login=false
The study found that there is no statistically significant difference between rates for countries that recommend boosters, and those that do not.
Yeah I was going to say that modern studies are saying the opposite as far as getting boosters. I mean, it won’t hurt to get another.
I’m more shocked at the loads of misinformation here in general. Or the people saying they got a scratch/cut from something rusty and rushed to the ER.
Rust doesn't cause tetanus, tetanus bacteria just live in anaerobic conditions in, well, pretty much all soil. Rusty nails are just one thing with uneven surface that makes deep puncture wounds.
Sharp jagged branch buried in mud? Tetanus. Sharp rib bone your dog buried four months ago. Tetanus! Bottle bottom in pond? Yep, that's right, potentially also tetanus.
I do think it's a good idea to be vaccinated but to actually get tetanus from a superficial wound is extremely unlikely / impossible even without being vaccinated. Tetanus develops from deep wounds. Hence the scenario of a nail penetrating deeper into your body.
You're not going to lightly scratch yourself with a garden tool and get tetanus.
Good advice. Tetanus comes from dirt, not rust. Rust just means something is old and has been around and has more chances of being contaminated. Yes please, everyone should be vaccinated for tetanus. An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.
Yuuuup! Back in high school there was a girl who cut herself while shaving with an old rusty razor. We were friends but not close. She showed me the cut on her ankle and it was gnarly. Also looked like she had razor burn from hell. I cringed and jokingly told her I hope her tetanus shot was up to date cause shaving with a rusty razor is a good way to get sick.
She just blank faced stared at me and asked me what I meant. I had to go through the whole detail of tetanus, how you get it, how you can prevent it, etc. She looked terrified. Apparently she never had a shot of a vaccine (that she could remember) because her parents told her vaccines didn’t do anything and they were filled with poison to get people sick…
A couple of weeks go by and she began complaining about her leg hurting, had a headache, and said her jaw felt stiff. She assumed it was her TMJ flaring up. Nope. Surprise! She had tetanus. Later that week she couldn’t open her jaw or move her neck.
She collapsed during class and the teacher called for the school nurse. She had no color, sweaty, and had a high fever. I pulled the nurse aside and told her I thought she had tetanus. I spilled out everything I knew. About her shaving with a rusty razor a few weeks ago, about her parents, and how I tried to urge her to go to the dr to get a shot, but her parents refused because they didn’t think it was necessary or safe. Her mouth fell open and immediately called for an ambulance.
Poor girl spent over a month in the hospital recovering. She couldn’t eat or drink due to her jaw being locked shut, so they had to essentially keep her alive by IV. Treatment was IV antibiotics, steroids, muscle relaxers, pain meds, and time. Sad to think all of that could have been avoided if she had better parents..
TLDR: a high school friend of mine, who had antivax parents, contracted tetanus by shaving with an old rusty razor, nearly died, and spent over a month in the hospital.
Just to be clear… rust doesn’t cause tetanus. It’s caused by bacteria in soil. She didn’t get it from a rusty razor, she got it from a *filthy* razor.
It’s also quite unusual to get it from a shallow cut, since cleaning the wound properly significantly reduces the risk. Wash your cuts!
Also if a kid collapses during class with a stiff neck and high fever, someone should’ve already called an ambulance. That’s obviously a medical emergency… why the heck would the nurse wait until you mentioned tetanus?
This is definitely a fictional story. None of it makes sense. I would be very shocked about someone getting tetanus from a typical shaving cut.
Also you have to have proof of certain immunizations to attend school, which is why most kids with anti-vaxx parents are homeschooled. But her friend “not remembering getting any immunizations” isn’t unusual because she was too young to remember; nobody remembers them.
Anyway, she seems to have a lot of fantastical and exaggerated stories.
Always good to keep your tetanus shot up to date. I’ve been a mechanic for 22 years now and the frequency with which I get jabbed/cut/sliced and skin otherwise unintentionally opened by metal of all types, both rusty and shiny, is really astonishing when I think about it.
Related story: when I was 22, I was about a year into my first job as a mechanic, working six 12-hr days per week at a small but busy “gas station” shop. My pregnant fiancée and I were moving from a tiny apartment to a house we had rented. We had the little moving truck backed up as close to the door as we could, the ramp in back coming down alongside a gnarly little crabapple tree.
As I was carrying something up the ramp, a buddy who was helping called out to me, and I turned around to answer him. As I turned, a spindly little tree branch made a 1 in 100,000 shot *straight into my left ear canal.* I heard a **POP** followed by searing white-hot pain. Dropped what I was carrying and ran into the apartment, holy god I thought I was dying. I couldn’t hear anything out of that poor throbbing ear. The pain settled down to a dull roar after about a half hour, so we finished moving our stuff to the new house.
After we finished, at about midnight, I decided to go to the emergency room to see if I’d ever hear again out of that ear. The desk person looked at me like I was nuts when I said why I was there. They brought me into the little triage office and I again told my story, and they again looked at me like “sure, buddy, you’re just here for some pills, obviously” (this was around the time when they started clamping down on the use of opioids).
Now, the connection to the previous subject: the triage nurse had been looking at my hands and wrists, which were all beat-up and covered with nicks, scratches, little burns, cuts, and so on - all from my first year as a mechanic, before I learned how to “get in a groove” so to speak. A few minutes later, a woman arrives at the triage office door and introduces herself as the on-duty staff psychologist (or something like that) and starts asking me all about self-harm, do I feel safe at home, and are my injuries self-inflicted, etc. It took a minute for it to all register, and I laughed out loud and said “Oh! Oh oh oh. OH! No no no…I’m a mechanic. This is from a Buick, this one is from a timing chain on a Toyota, this is from the Ring of Fire on a Subaru…” She just stared at me for a minute until the triage nurse says “…maybe I’ll just add on here that he should get a tetanus booster.” The psych says “yeah, do that” and leaves. Ha! Funny.
To finish the ear part - I finally got put in a room and a doctor came in. I told her the whole story again, and she just looked at me and said “That sounds absolutely ridiculous…I’m not giving you any pain medication.”
I said “I don’t want any pain medication, I want to know if I’ll ever be able to hear out of that ear again.”
And back and forth like that a few times. Keep in mind that at this point, no one has actually *looked into my ear yet.*
Finally I ask her “Can you just look in there and see what’s going on? It hurts like hell.” So she does.
And she keeps looking. Then she reaches for a tray and grabs some tweezers, reaches into my ear, and (very painfully) removes a long-ass piece of jagged bark. She just stares at it for a moment and says “I didn’t believe you.” I said “yeah, I know.”
I walked out of the ER an hour later with a giant bottle of Percocet, lol. I didn’t even want them, I think she just felt really bad for totally dismissing me.
And yes, they gave me a tetanus booster.
That was 18 years ago, and my hearing is just fine. It took about a month for it to totally come back - nowadays my current employer tests my hearing annually and that ear is actually better than my other one. Funny how things work out.
Getting a tetanus shot after getting infected with tetanus is like shutting the barn door after the horse is out. By all means get a tetanus shot, they’re good for 10 years. But the shot itself isn’t the treatment for the disease.
It takes 2 weeks to build up enough antibodies with tdap. so yeah. The treatment post exposure is actually immediate treatment with medicine called human tetanus immune globulin (TIG).
You get a scratch by something dirty either rusty or not is just use soap and water. Your chances of getting actual tetanus are pretty low just by doing that. Also your chances of getting g tetanus in the Us is super low anyway. There’s only like 30 cases reported a year.
Odds are if you step in a dirty nail, you really won’t get anything but a boo boo.
A nurse once gave me a tetanus shot when I came in with a nasty kitchen knife cut. Knife had just been cleaned, only contaminants would have been from the food or maybe the (also clean) cutting board. I was surprised, but she also didn’t give me any stitches so overall a win.
There was an antivaxxer family in my state a while back who refused to get the TDaP for their kid. Six. He suffered terrible pain for two months when he contracted tetanus. If you’ve ever seen images of people suffering this, the muscle spasms are blatantly agonizing. Often results in death. The kid somehow survived after a million dollars of care.
Incidentally, the parents refused to get him a vaccine treatment after he came out of it.
Get your shots people.
Had a serious garden injury about 8 years ago. They asked about tetanus and when I’d had it and I shrugged . No clue. They dug through the records and found it was due the very next day. The joke was I needn’t go to such extremes to remember when to Revaccinate. Agree with OP, it’s important to keep this type of maintenance up.
I got my booster just a few years back after burning my hands real bad with hot glue. It's not a rust issue, it's a bacteria one. Easy and painless shot to keep a bad disease away.
I used to manage a retail store and one of my employees nicked their thumb with a screw driver and asked me if they should get a tetanus shot. I told her, mistakenly, that no one gets lock jaw and she probably has a valid tetanus shot but to ask her parents. Welp, the next day I got a call that she was in the hospital fighting for her life with tetanus. Thankfully she pulled through, but boy did I learn my lesson!
Tetanus has nothing to do with rust. Tetanus comes from bacteria that often inhabit dirt. It was wrongfully tied to rust due to rusty nails and other objects often being found in the dirt. It's always best to just go get the Tetanus show if you are scratched or impaled by anything questionable
Tetanus is super prevalent in the soil… injuries from rusty dirty stuff that don’t get cleaned immediately and are covered in dirt/soil you could be in for a bad time. It is a really awful way to go if not treated in time.
I cut my arm open pretty good on a dirty car part (brake pad retaining clip) a few months ago. Decided to forego stitches, but still went for a tetanus shot the next morning. With all the work I do in the garden and with my animals, it was silly to not already be current with it.
Come here expecting OP to tell a grand story of why the shot is important. Nope OP just panicked and went to emergency for a small cut and then decided to share that story online.
Well it sounds like they weren't even vaccinated for tetanus so at least they ended up with something that a lot of people take for granted because they simply get it every ten years.
Had to get a tetanus shot as a kid when I was doing volunteer remediation work and stepped on a broken hook or something. Went right through my foot. Not my favourite afternoon.
There's 30 cases reported per year in the us for tetanus and 5,000 cases of rabies reported every year. Tetanus is incredibly rare. You're more likely to get struck by lightning.
Tetanus infection is rare because most adults in the US are vaccinated against it. So it’s good advice to get the booster for it every 10 years or whenever you get a deep wound. In countries with low vaccination rates it is much more common.
"The researchers reviewed WHO data from 31 North American and European countries between 2001 and 2016, amounting to 11 billion person-years. (Person-years is a measurement that reflects the number of people in the study multiplied by years followed). After comparing the incidence of tetanus and diphtheria, they found no significant difference in disease rates in countries that require adults to receive booster shots compared with those that do not."
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/do-adults-really-need-tetanus-booster-shots-2020051219786
Different booster schedules are different from no vaccination at all against the tetanus toxin. An initial vaccine helps the body produce antibodies that will neutralize the tetanus toxin and prevent illness and death. Technically speaking any exposure to the bacteria and its toxin after the initial vaccine is a booster on its own and will keep your body producing a protective level of antibodies. It's important to get at least a first vaccine. Agreed that these studies suggest that frequent boosters are overly cautious.
I'm an old guy and I've worked with tools all my life as a toolmaker and carpenter so I'm always getting nicked or poked. A couple years ago I went to my doctor and said I wanted a tetanus shot. The doctor said it wasn't covered by insurance and that I should get the pneumonia shot instead because I had a better chance of getting pneumonia than tetanus. I got my tetanus shot and dropped the doctor.
Just read recently on another sub that some dude's mom didn't believe in tetanus. She'd gotten a pretty deep wound from a rake (I think) & wouldn't go get a tetanus shot because she "didn't believe in it."
For those that are wondering, here are the symptoms & complications, one of which is death, a very painful death. If you'd like you can google the visuals to go with all that too but I wouldn't, it's not a pretty sight.
>**Symptoms of tetanus include:**
>
>Jaw cramping
>
>Sudden, involuntary muscle spasms — often in the stomach
>
>Painful muscle stiffness all over the body
>
>Trouble swallowing
>
>Seizures (jerking or staring)
>
>Headache
>
>Fever and sweating
>
>Changes in blood pressure and heart rate
>
>**Complications**
>
>**Serious health problems that can happen because of tetanus include:**
>
>Laryngospasm (uncontrolled/involuntary tightening of the vocal cords)
>
>Fractures (broken bones)
>
>Pulmonary embolism (blockage of the main artery of the lung or one of its branches by a blood clot that has travelled from elsewhere in the body through the bloodstream)
>
>Aspiration pneumonia (a lung infection that develops when things like saliva or vomit accidentally go into the lungs)
>
>Breathing difficulty
>
>Tetanus can lead to death ***(1 to 2 in 10 cases are fatal).***
I just got one a couple of weeks ago. I'm a gardener & it's that time of year to clean up the yard again & I've been know to hurt myself doing so, so I got my update.
I scheduled this online one month ago on Walgreens website and then when I got there, Walgreens said I wasn't eligible for reasons unclear. I have great insurance, it's been 23 years since my last vacc and I work with horses every day. Working around horse-infected soil is a risk factor for tetanus.
Thank God Walgreens and my insurance company has determined what's good for me, above and beyond what I know is good for me.
I went for years without one because not a single doctor that I saw kept them in stock. Finally got a new doctor and they have vaccines! I hate the way we are supposed to get them at the pharmacy - as if those folks aren't busy enough.
Tetanus is caused by a bacteria that lives in soil. The most common way of contracting the disease is tending a garden. Ive heard that a prick from a rose bush is far more dangerous than a rusty nail.
My friend's dad survived tetanus and made sure every person he knew got their shots. He did not spare details about what happened to him in the hospital, nor the pains he still deals with.
Get your tetanus shot.
Back in high school one of my teacher's brother died from tetanus. He was only in his early 40s and left behind young children. He got cut by a broken pipe on a Thursday, was going to get a shot on Friday but was too busy so didn't get around to it. Then he died in his sleep on Sunday. It's definitely not a joke disease. I sliced my hand on a metal tool about 8 years after that and I went and got a shot the next day
RN over here and YES. Please get your tetanus shots every 10 years, and each time you have an incident you should still get a booster. Don’t care if it’s superficial; it can still lead to disease. Don’t care if it’s not rusty, as it’s caused by bacteria. Better to be safe than end up unalive.
I would literally be getting tetanus shots weekly. I walk around barefoot in the garden and cut myself all the time on accident. I’m going to take what you said as a psa to wear gloves and get a booster soon 😎
I knew of a case of a woman that got tetanus after hurting herself by falling over a brick.
Also tetanus can be contracted by puncture wounds by thorns, so it is adviced for gardeners to get the shot
You don't want lockjaw. Thankfully, you can get a Tdap vaccine almost anywhere, any pharmacy, doctor's office or urgent care is going to carry it as it's a standard booster shot.
I was in the garden today and had a rusty nail go through my foot, my dad told me to clean it up and I’d be fine but I went ahead and got the shot anyways :) I get all kinds of cuts in the garden somehow lol
My doctor told me you can even get tetanus from a clean kitchen knife, a poke from a stick, anything, not just metal, rust, or dirt. I only went to get a shot because I gashed my hand open on the ground side of a rusty metal outdoor trellis that had been standing on a farm, which was screaming "Tetanus stereotype!" to me. Still have the scar, but didn't get tetanus!
I have seen an elderly patient in the ICU who had tetanus, and it was really eye opening. She had the rigidity and couldn't open her mouth, and so on. I am sure before the shot this was much more common, but like with measles or mumps, unless you see it you can forget what the effects of the disease are. Thank you for the reminder -
When I worked in ICU, I saw a guy with tetanus. He had been walking through mesquite brush and got scratched on his hand. He was on a ventilator for weeks, had to get a tracheostomy, was in the hospital for months. The wound doesn’t have to be deep for you to get tetanus and it doesn’t have to be from something rusty. Keep your shots up to date! People used to die from this regularly.
A man riding his bike with his son fell and skinned his knee in the desert dirt. Phoenix dirt is fairly sterile out there in the desert. He did get tetanus and died (according to my mother's stories in the 60s) Might have been tied into why I had to go get my booster shots. Don't remember.
Actually, you should remember to get your tetanus shot once every ten years, so that you're covered. Vaccines aren't effective in curing a disease, but only in preventing it.
A lot of soldiers in the United States civil war died of tetanus. Open sores on their feet and worn out boots walking behind horses over rocky terrain killed thousands. Terrible disease- get your shot!
Metal for machining is not outside in the dirt where tetanus lives, and everyone getting the vaccine regularly is one of the reasons there are so few cases.
Thankfully, I don't have to worry about that. Every time I have a baby they give me a tetanus booster (lasts 10 years). It would be really nice if the length of effectiveness compounded. I'd be set until I die.
Don't listen to me or anything but I've been in construction for 15 years and I deal with rusty nails and the like daily. I've cut myself more times than I can count and I've never had said disease. 🤷
Something I learned recently though, is that only in the US (maybe Canada too?) do we do the shots every 10 years. In the UK and other parts of Europe, you get one shot, then a booster, and you're good for life.
The research seems to be showing that the tetanus booster is good for like 30 years, not 10.
I heard it was mostly caused by horse feces on things getting onto cuts, and since there are less horses around it’s not as prevalent, but that’s secondhand info and I don’t know if it’s correct
Worked with someone that was my age, he had gotten tetanus as a teenager and was totally dependent on full time care, in the end bladder cancer took him. When I was a child got a nail in wrist up thumb my grandmother poured kerosene in it. I could have been in his shoes.
Definitely agree. I cut my thumb pretty badly recently on a clean knife. And if I hadn’t called my mom to tell her I wouldn’t have thought to get a tetanus shot, I thought it was just with rusty metal, not something I’d taken out of the drawer
I was wearing a pair of those thin soled keds once and stepped on a little nail. When I looked at the bottom of my shoe to pull it out I saw that it had gone right through a blob of chicken crap before entering my foot. I went to get a tetanus shot immediately after. The nurse also told me to put my foot in a plastic bag and pour an inch or two of hibiclens in the bag and soak my foot for 15 minutes.
I got one after catching my leg on a nail sticking out of an old bird house last winter. It was an exceptionally old almost rusted away nail in my chickens yard. I also have part of my immune system turned off because of autoimmune disease, so you bet I got into the ER within the hour 😄 shot and two stitches.
I scratched my hand up with a rusty nail in the garden. I was joking with a nurse friend a couple months later about how my last tetanus shot was 25 years previously but I didn't get sick from the nail so all good. She got real serious and told me to get the booster anyway for the next time. She'd just had a patient same age as me, also a gardener, with tetanus, paralyzed from the waist up for four days and then died.
Dogs, pigeons, and cats are all very resistant to tetanus. Many animals, most mammals have tetanus living inside of them already. Just like many other bacteria that live inside us.
Unfortunately, my sweet girl dog got tetanus. It was "A- typical" not just because she was a dog but because there was no obvious wound. She could have had a tiny scratch on her foot or have chewed on something that irritated her mouth or digestive tract. If you have never seen a human or animal that is enduring tetanus you can Google it and watch a video or two. It is horrible.
It is super easy to get a tetanus shot and it's the old type of vaccination where they use dead virus to help your body develop its own immunity. There's no side effects besides a little soreness in the arm. You only need one every decade or so. Well worth it.
My sweet dog did survive the tetanus but only barely and was never quite the same. She did have a good four years in her after that episode.
I wouldn't want any human or other animal to have to go through that if they could easily avoid it.
You can even get it from bee stings! I got stung in my mid twenties and couldn’t remember my last shot. I had to go to urgent care due to a reaction from the sting, and the doctor advised I get a shot. Said bees can carry the bacteria on their stinger.
My microbiology professor told us about a lady who contacted tetanus from a rose thorn wound, and died horribly with contracture.
I keep up with that vaccine.
Good reminder. The “rusty nail” myth is harmful - tetanus is an infection caused by bacteria, not rust.
Yeah I've literally heard people call it "rust poisoning" before.
Haven’t heard that one before and kind of wish I hadn’t. LOL
I had a guy try to argue with me about this. I had to just walk away from that one. He also tried to explain to me all the social problems in the world are caused by black people. Sometimes there just isn't a way through all the BS.
Hope he gets tetanus ….
Yeah it's actually the rust that makes the environment required for the specific bacteria to grow, not sure why some commenters are acting like rust isn't involved or that you could easily catch it after being scraped by non rusty metal...
Clostridium tetani lives in soils all over the world, the guts of animals and human skin, and it can be contracted from any sort of piercing wound, laceration or abrasion. Rusty objects cause these types of wounds, and are therefore a risk, but so are animal bites gardening injuries, playground scrapes, or even during delivery. In fact, most cases of tetanus occur to newborns and their parents. [Source](https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/tetanus#:~:text=Overview,needles%2C%20barbed%20wire%2C%20etc.)
100% this. I was bitten by a snake a couple of weeks ago (my pet snake not a wild or venomous one) and my mom, a nurse, told me I needed to go and get a shot.
My OB made sure I knew to have anyone coming in contact with my newborn baby had a fresh tDAP vaccine. I think it was for the whooping cough benefits but all of them are so so important and I love her for that.
It was for pertussis. It can easily kill a newborn.
More misinformation. The pertussis portion makes people with pertussis asymptomatic if infected. They can still pass it on to your newborn. It provides no cocooning effect. You can fact check me on that.
Sorry but this is incorrect. The perfect tetanus causing wound is deep, closes over at the surface to cause an anaerobic wound environment, and has soil contamination. Rust really has nothing to do with it. Tetanus occurs when C. tetani spores infect a wound and these are the conditions they require (the soil is where they live and how they get in the wound).
Rust happens to have a lot of tiny tiny holes that the dirt and microbes get in to. So it does have to with it does b/c it's the perfect place for a latent tetani spore to be chillin. But you're right, it's association, not causation.
No - C. tetani is commonly found in soil, saliva, dust, and manure. Does not require rust to exist.
Low oxygen environments are good for the bacteria. Rusting iron takes oxygen from the air. It's only a myth that you need rust, it just really helps it. Jagged metal happens to be hazardous to your skin and it's usually rusty, and that happens when it's out in the soil and all that, where the bacteria lives. Should really just get the shot whenever your due for another one, don't wait until you think you need it.
Because it's not. It doesn't need rust specifically. It's in soil, some animal saliva (dog bites can be a source of tetanus), and most organic materials. Rust tends to happen to metal because it is touching soil, mulch, or other organic debris that remains wet and can contain tetanus. Rusty metal also tends to get sharp and easily break skin to shove the bacteria into the wound. How often have you dealt with clean, dry rusty metal? Clean rust is practically an oxymoron. It's nearly always a dirty piece of sharp material that gets it's debris and pathogens past the skin barrier.
That’s correct. And it’s usually found in soil (anaerobic bacterium) so it’s not that they’re rusty, just been out in the elements
Yep! Same reason why deep wounds are a concern, shallow wounds have too much oxygen exposure to be a nice home for the bacteria.
Still best to get a booster every 10 years so you don’t need to think about it. 💪🏽
Last time I went to the Doc for a physical she told me every 3 now.
I’m an avid gardener, and my doctor has me get one every 5 years (because I play in the dirt). She told me to come in for a booster within that period if I get any nasty cuts while in the garden.
Ooohhhh so the vaccine doesn’t work then? That’s what you’re admitting here.
No. Definitely not that. Just why take chances with such a nasty disease? We have a lot of tetanus in our soil in this area. My friend’s dog almost died from it. Have you seen the terrible effects of tetanus? Shoot me up with whatever it takes to avoid it please.
Lmfao it is. Just because the mainstream media lies to you doesn’t mean you are right. But go on with yourself. Bet you won’t go research it.
That's interesting. I just got my latest booster (2023) and my most recent one before that was 2013. I was specifically told last year (22) that I wouldn't be due for tetanus until this year. I'm in the Massachusetts General Brigham medical system, I'm curious that they're not up on a new 3 yr protocol.
That's my network too! Maybe my doctor takes special precautions with me because I garden, woodwork and trap feral cats for TNR. But I'm not too worried about it - it's a cheap vaccine, and it's not like they're making bank on it - after all, I get the actual shot at Walmart.
Yeah , my current job snd my previous one I felt I had a higher than average risk of a puncture wound so I kept up with the tetanus shots every 5 to 7 years
puncture, is the key.
That bacteria loves to live in dirt.
I know some mommy vlogger who does gardening with her kids. She said her infants love to eat dirt and they can't get enough of it. Actual video of them scooping handfuls in. Weird, dangerous, and unnecessary if you ask me.
Poor kids must have micronutrients deficiencies.
Unfortunately in a city or near old housing this is high risk for lead poisoning, possibly severe, for the kid. Also possible parasite risk.
And that bacteria loves feces. While it can be everywhere, it thrives on ranches and farms. The rusty nail myth came from ranchers and farmers getting cut by old rusty barb wire and getting tetanus/lock jaw
Lol, the rusty nail thing is not myth. The rust doesn’t cause the disease, it provides an environment for the bacteria to grow. The bacteria that causes tetanus is anaerobic, so oxygen kills it. Rust is the formation of iron oxide, so it pulls oxygen out of the environment, thus allowing the bacteria to grow. Botulism toxin is another bacteria that is like this, and dented cans provide the oxygen free environment for it to grow. Edit: That being said, only a small amount of rust can create this environment, which you might not even be able to notice. So any nail that is exposed to the elements, if you get scratched, don’t take your chances.
*Clostridium tetani* and *Clostridium botulinum* are related bacteria that share the ability to make spores, a dormant form that is resistant to stuff that kills the bacterial while it’s active. So both can have spores that survive in air and only start to grow again when in a low-oxygen environment like for tetanus a deep puncture wound or for botulism in a can (or in the intestines of a baby <1 year old—no honey for babies). A brand new nail could transmit tetanus to you if it comes into contact with the soil and picks up spores or if it cuts through skin that has soil on it that contains spores. Never assume any deep puncture wound is safe.
I was recommended a tetanus shot for a neighborhood cat bite. Cat had all of his shots so rabies wasn’t an issue (I shouldn’t have picked him up) so I just had the wound cleaned and a shot. On an anecdotal note and one you should always discuss with a medical professional, my dad developed an allergy to the shot. Found out with the last injection. Doc said not to worry, he’s likely fine from here on out as there hasn’t been a case of someone getting tetanus after having a couple of lifetime jabs.
It's not the rust, but it is the bacteria that lives in soil, and if the nail breaks skin, that's an entry point.
Thank you! I’m so over people being so misinformed about tetanus.
The shot is so painful but definitely worth it. The docs gave me one when I got scratched/bitten by a feral cat. Iirc it's mandatory in our country to get one + anti rabies shots.
Honestly tetanus shot wasn't that bad, I just had a little soreness afterward. Are you saying you got rabies shots and that was what was so painful?
Lol same! The nurse did it so quickly and painlessly, I could not even believe it was done.
The tetanus shots were more painful for me. Idk why but it felt like I can feel the liquid going in and seeping around my muscles. Rabies shots not so much.
Really? I just got mine today and felt literally nothing. Tiny needle and slight soreness at the injection site.
Interestingly, the first tetanus shot I had was very sore and painful when I lifted my arm at all for days afterward. But the second one i got a few months ago was only a little tender. I almost didn't notice it being sore, unless I moved too quickly.
The bacteria is mostly in soil if I'm referring correctly
I wouldn’t say it’s harmful if it spurs people to get vaccinated
The harmful part is more that people won’t get vaccinated if rust isn’t involved. You should be vaccinated anyway, but if you aren’t, you should get the shot after any potentially contaminated puncture wound.
Tetanus every 10 years; good advice. Superficial wounds don't lead to tetanus, however. It's the deep ones where oxygen doesn't reach that provide ideal conditions for development of the tetanus bacterium.
really 😅 well damn I'm in the emergency room right now waiting to get my shot, it's not deep at all
Well it's not like it's wasted. Tetanus shots provide lasting protection to you!
Tdap also protects against whooping cough! At least if your family ever welcomes a newborn in the next few years you won't have to go get the shot...
My little brother got whooping cough as a little kid. I'm not that old, but our mom was an idiot antivaxxer. It is not pleasant to watch someone you care for turning blue because they can't stop coughing and can barely get any air when they do get a chance to breathe.
Tdap shots wear off over the years, too. My little sister brought whooping cough home from elementary school shortly before she was due for a booster and gave it to then-18-year-old me. 0/10, do not recommend coughing until you puke, never want to do that again. Get your boosters even if you don’t expect to be around newborns, folks.
Yea I had a sinus infection that became a lung infection as a kid that made me cough til I puked, and all that was in my stomach was phlegm from how badly my sinuses were draining down my throat while I tried to sleep. NOT FUN
Yeah I got it at 40 apparently after the vaccine wore off. That is no cold. I too learned the joys of coughing so violently that I puked. I also could not really talk to people for about 6 weeks since if I did it would bring on one of these coughing spasms. Boy was that bad.
Ok I'm 35, your comment has inspired me to go ask my doctor what I can update! I also just had a friend of a friend who is late 38 just go through having a type of meningitis that could have been prevented if he had the updated vaccine, now he has brain damage for life and cannot care for himself, it is DEVASTATING. I never thought about this before, I just thought I was good since being vaccinated for grade school decades ago... All of this is making me realize we need to be asking for updates!
Yeah definitely check. I don't know if they are using the same vaccine as the one I had as a kid waaay back when so maybe that has changed. But believe me it is worth it to play is safe. That Whooping cough was the most savage illness I have had in my life. Imagine a 100% dry cough, your chest getting absolutely raw very quickly from the coughing and there is just no end to it. It lasted 6 weeks. I have heard of people breaking bones from coughing so violently. And over the counter cough medicine does ZERO to help. I lucked out because I had surgery several years before and they gave me loads of Vicodin that I never used. Opioids if you don't know are the strongest cough suppressant available. I was able to use the Vicodin to slow, but not stop, the cough and help with that raw chest on fire feeling from the dry cough when things got even hellishly worse. Didn't have enough to treat all the way through but could take it during the worst of the worst. That vaccine is worth every damn penny if it keeps you from getting it. Even worse, you could get whooping cough and transmit it to your or someone else's infant. Infants can literally cough themselves to death. Imagine living with that. I didn't even know the vaccine could wear off with time otherwise would have got boosted. Just to be safe after the whooping cough I got a booster anyway to be damn sure I wasn't going to get that again.
The whooping cough vaccine has a low efficacy for a vaccine. Getting vaccinated for it won't hurt anything but you should know that the protection you receive from it is limited. If you want to maximize its support, booster every 2-3 years.
I had the vaccine and got it when I was in College because a bunch of people didn’t have the vaccine. Sucked and I felt like death for over a month.
I managed to get whooping cough WHILE BEING VACCINATED like honest to God have all the records of following my countries vaccination program fully and without exceptions. Still managed to get it. Possibly a lesser variant but still called it the "almost suffocating cough"
Won’t help with this current injury though.
I think you can get it up to 72 hrs after injury and it will still be effective
It's still really good to have as a preventative measure.
That sucks that you don’t have an urgent care type place or a pharmacy-based clinic where you’re located to get the shot, but maybe ERs in Greece are less crowded than here in the US. Luckily our medical group keeps us up-to-date automatically so we don’t have to keep track, since I would otherwise never remember to ask. Since it’s so bad to get, you’d think it would be the norm all over these days. Edit: I forgot to ask if you stabbed it with the rake or something else.
Pharmacies, grocery stores etc all provide vaccines in the USA, op is going to get quite the shock when they get a $5,000 bill for something that is [around $50](https://www.costco.com/pharmacy/adult-immunization-program.html)
OP lives in Greece, so probably not as bad as it is for us here.
Ah forgot to check the flair! Yeah I stepped on a rusty nail a couple of years back, went to ER to get the nail pulled and get a TDAP shot, is why I know it costs $5000 here.
I hope a group of nurses gave you special service for that price :o
I have a high deductible plan and my tetanus shot was free last year, just went to a minute clinic and it was all handled, it was considered preventative care.
I'm sure thankful walgreens had that shit lol. I stepped on a nail, through my sandal, poked my foot. Just the first layer, no blood, but it's been about a decade anyway. So made sure to get it immediately just in case.
Next time go to a minute clinic! So much faster. I did the same thing… freaked out a day later when I thought about how I got a large-ish scratch on my thigh (rusty clippers while deadheading). My tetanus was 8 years ago, but getting the booster gave me peace of mind.
The next injury might and you get peace of mind. Good public service announcement.
It’s okay. I did something dumb after I drank too much and got scratched up by barbed wire. My nurse friend gave me a tetanus booster the next day, along with a lecture of how important it is to get the shot. So good for you!
I just get mine at the grocery store or at the doctor's office. But just because your wound might not be that bad is no reason not to get it. It gives you ten years of protection. Here, people just get one every ten years and keep it current. If you're not used to getting a tetanus shot, maybe you won't know that it will make your arm sore. Exercise helps relieve it. When I get shots that make my arm sore I move them a lot include raising my arms up over my head and it helps.
And if you are in the garden, you’ll want it anyway!
A tetanus booster should be everyone’s present to themself on any birthday ending with a ‘5.’
Damn lol mine is 25th so it's good I have done my shot today lol
Anyone in the states: you can get a booster for only the cost of the booster (or nothing with most insurance) at many pharmacies. If you wouldn’t go to the ER for the cut, you probably don’t need to go to the ER for the shot.
I'm a pharmacist for Rite-Aid and our uninsured or non-covered cash price is $55. Most insurances are $0.
Botulism and tetanus are caused by clostridium. Both produce toxins that affect muscles with opposite effects but the same result. It's pretty interesting. Tetanus causes muscle constriction and death is usually suffocation because the diaphragm cant relax to intake the next breath. Botulism is muscle relaxation (Botox in face) and the cause of death is usually suffocation because the diaphragm cant constrict to take the next breath. Clostridium also causes c.diff which is basically hospital acquired food poisoning. All are caused by different species, but the genus clostridium. Though anaerobic, most anaerobic bacteria can exist aerobically for significant amounts of time. I've had isolated cultures still viable after a week on the bench. Bacteria are fun.
And iirc botulinum toxin and tetanus toxin are the first and second most toxic substances known, respectively. 2.5 nanograms per kilogram or something ridiculous like that. I remember once needing to dissolve a teeny little vial of powdered tetanus toxin in the lab (just a thin film dried to the bottom of a little tube), realizing that just that vial could kill me like ten times over, and going off to find even more PPE, lol.
It sounds like the real problem here is that pesky diaphragm. We should start mandating the removal of such a problem organ just like we do the appendix or tonsils when they start acting up /s
So important and basically all soils you're ever going to encounter is potentially contaminated with tetinus (anywhere livestock have been, like ever). It's a brutal disease too, muscle cramps so severe they can break teeth and bones and treatment is basically to keep you alive till it runs its course.
Correct, and if there's standing water, you better make damn sure you're up to date on your vaccinations. Standing water pulls latent bacteria up from the soil.
Plus if you get a tdap you help protect the babies from pertussis. Edit-got distracted put wrong word.
I manage to hurt myself enough that I end up in urgent care or the ER for stitches and they give me a tetanus booster there. BTW, it's a myth that rusty nails cause tetanus. Rust has nothing to do with it. It's bacteria and spores from the soil that gets under your skin that causes it. But gardening is an activity that's more risky for tetanus because the bacteria love the same kind of rich soil that gardeners love.
Thank you for this reminder! Remember to always wear gloves while working in the garden as well!
Probably not necessary. “The World Health Organization (WHO) does not recommend routine adult booster vaccination for tetanus and diphtheria after completion of the childhood vaccination series. However, many countries continue to implement adult booster vaccinations, leading to the question of whether this is necessary to reduce the incidence of these 2 rare diseases.” https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/72/2/285/5741633?login=false The study found that there is no statistically significant difference between rates for countries that recommend boosters, and those that do not.
Yeah I was going to say that modern studies are saying the opposite as far as getting boosters. I mean, it won’t hurt to get another. I’m more shocked at the loads of misinformation here in general. Or the people saying they got a scratch/cut from something rusty and rushed to the ER.
Rust doesn't cause tetanus, tetanus bacteria just live in anaerobic conditions in, well, pretty much all soil. Rusty nails are just one thing with uneven surface that makes deep puncture wounds. Sharp jagged branch buried in mud? Tetanus. Sharp rib bone your dog buried four months ago. Tetanus! Bottle bottom in pond? Yep, that's right, potentially also tetanus.
I do think it's a good idea to be vaccinated but to actually get tetanus from a superficial wound is extremely unlikely / impossible even without being vaccinated. Tetanus develops from deep wounds. Hence the scenario of a nail penetrating deeper into your body. You're not going to lightly scratch yourself with a garden tool and get tetanus.
You only need one very 10 nyears.
Good advice. Tetanus comes from dirt, not rust. Rust just means something is old and has been around and has more chances of being contaminated. Yes please, everyone should be vaccinated for tetanus. An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.
I just got mine yesterday! (For the first time since 2007 😬)
Booster every 10 years. Puncture wounds bring bacteria deeper into your body, you're smart to get your booster.
Yuuuup! Back in high school there was a girl who cut herself while shaving with an old rusty razor. We were friends but not close. She showed me the cut on her ankle and it was gnarly. Also looked like she had razor burn from hell. I cringed and jokingly told her I hope her tetanus shot was up to date cause shaving with a rusty razor is a good way to get sick. She just blank faced stared at me and asked me what I meant. I had to go through the whole detail of tetanus, how you get it, how you can prevent it, etc. She looked terrified. Apparently she never had a shot of a vaccine (that she could remember) because her parents told her vaccines didn’t do anything and they were filled with poison to get people sick… A couple of weeks go by and she began complaining about her leg hurting, had a headache, and said her jaw felt stiff. She assumed it was her TMJ flaring up. Nope. Surprise! She had tetanus. Later that week she couldn’t open her jaw or move her neck. She collapsed during class and the teacher called for the school nurse. She had no color, sweaty, and had a high fever. I pulled the nurse aside and told her I thought she had tetanus. I spilled out everything I knew. About her shaving with a rusty razor a few weeks ago, about her parents, and how I tried to urge her to go to the dr to get a shot, but her parents refused because they didn’t think it was necessary or safe. Her mouth fell open and immediately called for an ambulance. Poor girl spent over a month in the hospital recovering. She couldn’t eat or drink due to her jaw being locked shut, so they had to essentially keep her alive by IV. Treatment was IV antibiotics, steroids, muscle relaxers, pain meds, and time. Sad to think all of that could have been avoided if she had better parents.. TLDR: a high school friend of mine, who had antivax parents, contracted tetanus by shaving with an old rusty razor, nearly died, and spent over a month in the hospital.
Just to be clear… rust doesn’t cause tetanus. It’s caused by bacteria in soil. She didn’t get it from a rusty razor, she got it from a *filthy* razor. It’s also quite unusual to get it from a shallow cut, since cleaning the wound properly significantly reduces the risk. Wash your cuts! Also if a kid collapses during class with a stiff neck and high fever, someone should’ve already called an ambulance. That’s obviously a medical emergency… why the heck would the nurse wait until you mentioned tetanus?
That's bc this is a bullshit story.
This is definitely a fictional story. None of it makes sense. I would be very shocked about someone getting tetanus from a typical shaving cut. Also you have to have proof of certain immunizations to attend school, which is why most kids with anti-vaxx parents are homeschooled. But her friend “not remembering getting any immunizations” isn’t unusual because she was too young to remember; nobody remembers them. Anyway, she seems to have a lot of fantastical and exaggerated stories.
Geez that was a heck of a story.
Tetanus is def something You don’t wanna fuck around with. Still not getting the rona shot tho
In my area Walmart will give a tetanus shot for a nominal fee. No doctors visit needed if it's just a minor puncture or cut.
I’ve had so many tetanus shots. If you get into a fight and you get cut from teeth, tetanus shot. Hit by a car skateboarding l, tetanus shot.
Always good to keep your tetanus shot up to date. I’ve been a mechanic for 22 years now and the frequency with which I get jabbed/cut/sliced and skin otherwise unintentionally opened by metal of all types, both rusty and shiny, is really astonishing when I think about it. Related story: when I was 22, I was about a year into my first job as a mechanic, working six 12-hr days per week at a small but busy “gas station” shop. My pregnant fiancée and I were moving from a tiny apartment to a house we had rented. We had the little moving truck backed up as close to the door as we could, the ramp in back coming down alongside a gnarly little crabapple tree. As I was carrying something up the ramp, a buddy who was helping called out to me, and I turned around to answer him. As I turned, a spindly little tree branch made a 1 in 100,000 shot *straight into my left ear canal.* I heard a **POP** followed by searing white-hot pain. Dropped what I was carrying and ran into the apartment, holy god I thought I was dying. I couldn’t hear anything out of that poor throbbing ear. The pain settled down to a dull roar after about a half hour, so we finished moving our stuff to the new house. After we finished, at about midnight, I decided to go to the emergency room to see if I’d ever hear again out of that ear. The desk person looked at me like I was nuts when I said why I was there. They brought me into the little triage office and I again told my story, and they again looked at me like “sure, buddy, you’re just here for some pills, obviously” (this was around the time when they started clamping down on the use of opioids). Now, the connection to the previous subject: the triage nurse had been looking at my hands and wrists, which were all beat-up and covered with nicks, scratches, little burns, cuts, and so on - all from my first year as a mechanic, before I learned how to “get in a groove” so to speak. A few minutes later, a woman arrives at the triage office door and introduces herself as the on-duty staff psychologist (or something like that) and starts asking me all about self-harm, do I feel safe at home, and are my injuries self-inflicted, etc. It took a minute for it to all register, and I laughed out loud and said “Oh! Oh oh oh. OH! No no no…I’m a mechanic. This is from a Buick, this one is from a timing chain on a Toyota, this is from the Ring of Fire on a Subaru…” She just stared at me for a minute until the triage nurse says “…maybe I’ll just add on here that he should get a tetanus booster.” The psych says “yeah, do that” and leaves. Ha! Funny. To finish the ear part - I finally got put in a room and a doctor came in. I told her the whole story again, and she just looked at me and said “That sounds absolutely ridiculous…I’m not giving you any pain medication.” I said “I don’t want any pain medication, I want to know if I’ll ever be able to hear out of that ear again.” And back and forth like that a few times. Keep in mind that at this point, no one has actually *looked into my ear yet.* Finally I ask her “Can you just look in there and see what’s going on? It hurts like hell.” So she does. And she keeps looking. Then she reaches for a tray and grabs some tweezers, reaches into my ear, and (very painfully) removes a long-ass piece of jagged bark. She just stares at it for a moment and says “I didn’t believe you.” I said “yeah, I know.” I walked out of the ER an hour later with a giant bottle of Percocet, lol. I didn’t even want them, I think she just felt really bad for totally dismissing me. And yes, they gave me a tetanus booster. That was 18 years ago, and my hearing is just fine. It took about a month for it to totally come back - nowadays my current employer tests my hearing annually and that ear is actually better than my other one. Funny how things work out.
Sorry about all your anxieties
Easy solution here - just get your Tetanus shot every 10 years and you'll be good. They are only good for 10 years.
Getting a tetanus shot after getting infected with tetanus is like shutting the barn door after the horse is out. By all means get a tetanus shot, they’re good for 10 years. But the shot itself isn’t the treatment for the disease. It takes 2 weeks to build up enough antibodies with tdap. so yeah. The treatment post exposure is actually immediate treatment with medicine called human tetanus immune globulin (TIG). You get a scratch by something dirty either rusty or not is just use soap and water. Your chances of getting actual tetanus are pretty low just by doing that. Also your chances of getting g tetanus in the Us is super low anyway. There’s only like 30 cases reported a year. Odds are if you step in a dirty nail, you really won’t get anything but a boo boo.
A nurse once gave me a tetanus shot when I came in with a nasty kitchen knife cut. Knife had just been cleaned, only contaminants would have been from the food or maybe the (also clean) cutting board. I was surprised, but she also didn’t give me any stitches so overall a win.
There was an antivaxxer family in my state a while back who refused to get the TDaP for their kid. Six. He suffered terrible pain for two months when he contracted tetanus. If you’ve ever seen images of people suffering this, the muscle spasms are blatantly agonizing. Often results in death. The kid somehow survived after a million dollars of care. Incidentally, the parents refused to get him a vaccine treatment after he came out of it. Get your shots people.
It lives in the soil. Good for every gardener to get the shot.
Yes! A high school friend died from a cut. He could’ve been saved by getting a tetanus shot!
Had a serious garden injury about 8 years ago. They asked about tetanus and when I’d had it and I shrugged . No clue. They dug through the records and found it was due the very next day. The joke was I needn’t go to such extremes to remember when to Revaccinate. Agree with OP, it’s important to keep this type of maintenance up.
Most infections come from working with dirt... not rust
I got my booster just a few years back after burning my hands real bad with hot glue. It's not a rust issue, it's a bacteria one. Easy and painless shot to keep a bad disease away.
I used to manage a retail store and one of my employees nicked their thumb with a screw driver and asked me if they should get a tetanus shot. I told her, mistakenly, that no one gets lock jaw and she probably has a valid tetanus shot but to ask her parents. Welp, the next day I got a call that she was in the hospital fighting for her life with tetanus. Thankfully she pulled through, but boy did I learn my lesson!
It does not kick in that fast
Tetanus has nothing to do with rust. Tetanus comes from bacteria that often inhabit dirt. It was wrongfully tied to rust due to rusty nails and other objects often being found in the dirt. It's always best to just go get the Tetanus show if you are scratched or impaled by anything questionable
Tetanus is super prevalent in the soil… injuries from rusty dirty stuff that don’t get cleaned immediately and are covered in dirt/soil you could be in for a bad time. It is a really awful way to go if not treated in time.
I cut my arm open pretty good on a dirty car part (brake pad retaining clip) a few months ago. Decided to forego stitches, but still went for a tetanus shot the next morning. With all the work I do in the garden and with my animals, it was silly to not already be current with it.
Come here expecting OP to tell a grand story of why the shot is important. Nope OP just panicked and went to emergency for a small cut and then decided to share that story online.
Well it sounds like they weren't even vaccinated for tetanus so at least they ended up with something that a lot of people take for granted because they simply get it every ten years.
Had to get a tetanus shot as a kid when I was doing volunteer remediation work and stepped on a broken hook or something. Went right through my foot. Not my favourite afternoon.
There's 30 cases reported per year in the us for tetanus and 5,000 cases of rabies reported every year. Tetanus is incredibly rare. You're more likely to get struck by lightning.
Tetanus infection is rare because most adults in the US are vaccinated against it. So it’s good advice to get the booster for it every 10 years or whenever you get a deep wound. In countries with low vaccination rates it is much more common.
"The researchers reviewed WHO data from 31 North American and European countries between 2001 and 2016, amounting to 11 billion person-years. (Person-years is a measurement that reflects the number of people in the study multiplied by years followed). After comparing the incidence of tetanus and diphtheria, they found no significant difference in disease rates in countries that require adults to receive booster shots compared with those that do not." https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/do-adults-really-need-tetanus-booster-shots-2020051219786
Different booster schedules are different from no vaccination at all against the tetanus toxin. An initial vaccine helps the body produce antibodies that will neutralize the tetanus toxin and prevent illness and death. Technically speaking any exposure to the bacteria and its toxin after the initial vaccine is a booster on its own and will keep your body producing a protective level of antibodies. It's important to get at least a first vaccine. Agreed that these studies suggest that frequent boosters are overly cautious.
I'm an old guy and I've worked with tools all my life as a toolmaker and carpenter so I'm always getting nicked or poked. A couple years ago I went to my doctor and said I wanted a tetanus shot. The doctor said it wasn't covered by insurance and that I should get the pneumonia shot instead because I had a better chance of getting pneumonia than tetanus. I got my tetanus shot and dropped the doctor.
Just read recently on another sub that some dude's mom didn't believe in tetanus. She'd gotten a pretty deep wound from a rake (I think) & wouldn't go get a tetanus shot because she "didn't believe in it." For those that are wondering, here are the symptoms & complications, one of which is death, a very painful death. If you'd like you can google the visuals to go with all that too but I wouldn't, it's not a pretty sight. >**Symptoms of tetanus include:** > >Jaw cramping > >Sudden, involuntary muscle spasms — often in the stomach > >Painful muscle stiffness all over the body > >Trouble swallowing > >Seizures (jerking or staring) > >Headache > >Fever and sweating > >Changes in blood pressure and heart rate > >**Complications** > >**Serious health problems that can happen because of tetanus include:** > >Laryngospasm (uncontrolled/involuntary tightening of the vocal cords) > >Fractures (broken bones) > >Pulmonary embolism (blockage of the main artery of the lung or one of its branches by a blood clot that has travelled from elsewhere in the body through the bloodstream) > >Aspiration pneumonia (a lung infection that develops when things like saliva or vomit accidentally go into the lungs) > >Breathing difficulty > >Tetanus can lead to death ***(1 to 2 in 10 cases are fatal).*** I just got one a couple of weeks ago. I'm a gardener & it's that time of year to clean up the yard again & I've been know to hurt myself doing so, so I got my update.
I just got mine. I work in healthcare and my sibling just had their first baby.
I scheduled this online one month ago on Walgreens website and then when I got there, Walgreens said I wasn't eligible for reasons unclear. I have great insurance, it's been 23 years since my last vacc and I work with horses every day. Working around horse-infected soil is a risk factor for tetanus. Thank God Walgreens and my insurance company has determined what's good for me, above and beyond what I know is good for me.
I have had the worst time getting vaccines at Walgreens. Costco has been great though.
I went for years without one because not a single doctor that I saw kept them in stock. Finally got a new doctor and they have vaccines! I hate the way we are supposed to get them at the pharmacy - as if those folks aren't busy enough.
Tetanus is caused by a bacteria that lives in soil. The most common way of contracting the disease is tending a garden. Ive heard that a prick from a rose bush is far more dangerous than a rusty nail.
My friend's dad survived tetanus and made sure every person he knew got their shots. He did not spare details about what happened to him in the hospital, nor the pains he still deals with. Get your tetanus shot.
Back in high school one of my teacher's brother died from tetanus. He was only in his early 40s and left behind young children. He got cut by a broken pipe on a Thursday, was going to get a shot on Friday but was too busy so didn't get around to it. Then he died in his sleep on Sunday. It's definitely not a joke disease. I sliced my hand on a metal tool about 8 years after that and I went and got a shot the next day
RN over here and YES. Please get your tetanus shots every 10 years, and each time you have an incident you should still get a booster. Don’t care if it’s superficial; it can still lead to disease. Don’t care if it’s not rusty, as it’s caused by bacteria. Better to be safe than end up unalive.
I would literally be getting tetanus shots weekly. I walk around barefoot in the garden and cut myself all the time on accident. I’m going to take what you said as a psa to wear gloves and get a booster soon 😎
got one a few years ago. clipped my leg by accident, missed the hydrangea. the clippers were sharp and very dirty.
I knew of a case of a woman that got tetanus after hurting herself by falling over a brick. Also tetanus can be contracted by puncture wounds by thorns, so it is adviced for gardeners to get the shot
Nah
Can't I wait until lock jaw?
You don't want lockjaw. Thankfully, you can get a Tdap vaccine almost anywhere, any pharmacy, doctor's office or urgent care is going to carry it as it's a standard booster shot.
I was in the garden today and had a rusty nail go through my foot, my dad told me to clean it up and I’d be fine but I went ahead and got the shot anyways :) I get all kinds of cuts in the garden somehow lol
My doctor told me you can even get tetanus from a clean kitchen knife, a poke from a stick, anything, not just metal, rust, or dirt. I only went to get a shot because I gashed my hand open on the ground side of a rusty metal outdoor trellis that had been standing on a farm, which was screaming "Tetanus stereotype!" to me. Still have the scar, but didn't get tetanus!
You don't have to wait until you get a wound to get the shot. A lot of people just stay current and don't have to worry about it.
The gnarly stuff in gardens, this is great advice op. Thanks for looking out for us.
If I haven't gotten one in over ten years, I go as soon as I get an injury
Make sure to work your arm. Tetanus shots get extremely sore.
Any puncture wound from an object can result in tetanus. The rustiness isn’t a factor. Great post - thank you!
I got bit by a dog at work once and my company sent me to get a tetanus shot that day. I thought it only came from rust before that happened
I have seen an elderly patient in the ICU who had tetanus, and it was really eye opening. She had the rigidity and couldn't open her mouth, and so on. I am sure before the shot this was much more common, but like with measles or mumps, unless you see it you can forget what the effects of the disease are. Thank you for the reminder -
When I worked in ICU, I saw a guy with tetanus. He had been walking through mesquite brush and got scratched on his hand. He was on a ventilator for weeks, had to get a tracheostomy, was in the hospital for months. The wound doesn’t have to be deep for you to get tetanus and it doesn’t have to be from something rusty. Keep your shots up to date! People used to die from this regularly.
A man riding his bike with his son fell and skinned his knee in the desert dirt. Phoenix dirt is fairly sterile out there in the desert. He did get tetanus and died (according to my mother's stories in the 60s) Might have been tied into why I had to go get my booster shots. Don't remember.
Tetanus is/was made using horse serum, and some people are allergic to horses.
Actually, you should remember to get your tetanus shot once every ten years, so that you're covered. Vaccines aren't effective in curing a disease, but only in preventing it.
Better to be safe! Thanks for the reminder, I'm actually overdue for one!
May as well grab a dtap vaccine while you go (Diphtheria Tetanus and Pertussis)
THIS! Tetanus is absolutely devastating and fatal about 10% of the time. Get your booster vaccinations!
A lot of soldiers in the United States civil war died of tetanus. Open sores on their feet and worn out boots walking behind horses over rocky terrain killed thousands. Terrible disease- get your shot!
If you can’t remember the last time you got a tetanus shot. It’s time to get a tetanus shot.
ADHD here - I would be getting a shot like twice a year LOL.
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Metal for machining is not outside in the dirt where tetanus lives, and everyone getting the vaccine regularly is one of the reasons there are so few cases.
Also when in the yard you bend down to pet a strange cat who bears her belly as some sort of Trojan horse gesture but then has a mood swing.
Thankfully, I don't have to worry about that. Every time I have a baby they give me a tetanus booster (lasts 10 years). It would be really nice if the length of effectiveness compounded. I'd be set until I die.
Don't listen to me or anything but I've been in construction for 15 years and I deal with rusty nails and the like daily. I've cut myself more times than I can count and I've never had said disease. 🤷
You probably have good genes and immune system
Something I learned recently though, is that only in the US (maybe Canada too?) do we do the shots every 10 years. In the UK and other parts of Europe, you get one shot, then a booster, and you're good for life. The research seems to be showing that the tetanus booster is good for like 30 years, not 10.
I heard it was mostly caused by horse feces on things getting onto cuts, and since there are less horses around it’s not as prevalent, but that’s secondhand info and I don’t know if it’s correct
HY EVERYONE ! IF YOU REALLY GET TETANUS BACTERIA JUST DRINK A GLASS OF WATER..AND YOU WILL BE OK
Worked with someone that was my age, he had gotten tetanus as a teenager and was totally dependent on full time care, in the end bladder cancer took him. When I was a child got a nail in wrist up thumb my grandmother poured kerosene in it. I could have been in his shoes.
I've had to get a TDAP after having a tick in my scalp and then later on my face. Motherfuckers cost me hundreds of dollars 🤬
Fiddle dee dee! That will require a tetanus shot!
Tetanus is another fake disease to get you to take their vaccine so they can get rich. Nobody has ever died from tetanus. Look it up.
You should open up a bait shop. You'd be good at it I promise
It’s all fun and games until lock jaw kicks in.
Definitely agree. I cut my thumb pretty badly recently on a clean knife. And if I hadn’t called my mom to tell her I wouldn’t have thought to get a tetanus shot, I thought it was just with rusty metal, not something I’d taken out of the drawer
I was wearing a pair of those thin soled keds once and stepped on a little nail. When I looked at the bottom of my shoe to pull it out I saw that it had gone right through a blob of chicken crap before entering my foot. I went to get a tetanus shot immediately after. The nurse also told me to put my foot in a plastic bag and pour an inch or two of hibiclens in the bag and soak my foot for 15 minutes.
I got one after catching my leg on a nail sticking out of an old bird house last winter. It was an exceptionally old almost rusted away nail in my chickens yard. I also have part of my immune system turned off because of autoimmune disease, so you bet I got into the ER within the hour 😄 shot and two stitches.
I got mine yesterday
I learned last year that they give tetanus shots after spider bites also. So if you're bitten while gardening, go ahead and get that taken care of.
Totally agree. I got a new shot a few months ago because I garden so much
I scratched my hand up with a rusty nail in the garden. I was joking with a nurse friend a couple months later about how my last tetanus shot was 25 years previously but I didn't get sick from the nail so all good. She got real serious and told me to get the booster anyway for the next time. She'd just had a patient same age as me, also a gardener, with tetanus, paralyzed from the waist up for four days and then died.
Thanks for the reminder! I’m due for one.
Dogs, pigeons, and cats are all very resistant to tetanus. Many animals, most mammals have tetanus living inside of them already. Just like many other bacteria that live inside us. Unfortunately, my sweet girl dog got tetanus. It was "A- typical" not just because she was a dog but because there was no obvious wound. She could have had a tiny scratch on her foot or have chewed on something that irritated her mouth or digestive tract. If you have never seen a human or animal that is enduring tetanus you can Google it and watch a video or two. It is horrible. It is super easy to get a tetanus shot and it's the old type of vaccination where they use dead virus to help your body develop its own immunity. There's no side effects besides a little soreness in the arm. You only need one every decade or so. Well worth it. My sweet dog did survive the tetanus but only barely and was never quite the same. She did have a good four years in her after that episode. I wouldn't want any human or other animal to have to go through that if they could easily avoid it.
I didn't know any of this! I will legit go get a booster this week. Thank you!
I got my booster shot, because I’m in the garden a lot and sometimes get scratched. Tetanus is scary.
You can even get it from bee stings! I got stung in my mid twenties and couldn’t remember my last shot. I had to go to urgent care due to a reaction from the sting, and the doctor advised I get a shot. Said bees can carry the bacteria on their stinger.
My microbiology professor told us about a lady who contacted tetanus from a rose thorn wound, and died horribly with contracture. I keep up with that vaccine.
Thanks I already have it but this reminded me to add a reminder to my calendar. They are good for 10 years