Tetanus Vaccination is for life, not just for School!

[Katie at FoxMedics]

Ok thanks, just advise my patients normally to inquire about a booster if they injure themselves. Not everyone is aware of how many they have had at school and so a booster may not go a miss and at least you are sure then that you are up to date. But of course speak to your GP or Practice Nurse first. I have had more than 5 as have had a booster when travelling and seem to be intact still apart from being a little bonkers, but I think that's situation normal

Thanks again though

[wrsni]

I never manage to avoid A&E long enough for it to lapse.

 

Got the last one just under a year ago when this was being sorted.

[devon TWiG]

I have never heard of anyone having tetanus , has anyone known some one to have it ? I know jabs are normally given if you end up in A&E with a wound , but is it possible from thorn , splinters or bramble scratches etc ?

[geoff]

I have never heard of anyone having tetanus , has anyone known some one to have it ? I know jabs are normally given if you end up in A&E with a wound , but is it possible from thorn , splinters or bramble scratches etc ?

 

Yes you can get it from a scratch or small puncture wound.

[Katie at FoxMedics]

The NHS website has a few facts about it. Its a bacteria which can be found in various substances main ones include soil, animal/human waste (poo in other words) and house dust! Causes stiffness and painful muscle spasm, difficulty swallowing and if untreated can be fatal. Its very rare for people to suffer from Tetanus now because of being VACINATED but in 2003 a poor lady passed away from Tetanus bacteria entering her system due to an accident in the garden where she fell on a bush and cut her face.

[woodyguy]

There are between 5 and 10 cases per year in UK but mainly in iv drug users and older people (not immunised). About 10% of younger cases die and over 50% of older. In third world young babies die in their thousands from it but none have died in UK for many years. So don't use contaminated heroin and if you stick your garden fork through your foot have a booster!

[Welshwoodsman]

I didnt have any jabs at school. Sod that! Gp's used to give a booster every 5 years- 20 years ago they told me this was no longer good practice, and if you get a bad cut or a dirty injury, they will innoculate as standard practice- but not routinely, and def not every 5 years any more.

I have most certainly not had more than 2 tet injs in 40 years.

[Stock]

Last one I had was when I was bitten by a dog.

 

Time before that was when I was bitten by a tortoise.

 

I get bitten a lot.

 

 

I bet it was "Tommy" see him here..........

 

[ame=

]

[/ame]

 

[TurtleWoods72]

For all the pss takers...

 

When feeding a tortoise by hand, one offers up the delight to said tortoises mouth. When interested he or she will lurch forward in a clumsy mechanical way and take aim. Then with a further 'spring in their step' loaded and ready to go if need be they move in for the kill. (This involves a lunge of the neck, reminiscent of 'body poppers' from the 80's)

 

If you're holding a slice of cucumber of which two bites have already been taken you're playing Russian Roullete with your finger tips. Their necks will extend with startling speed and deliberation in the final milliseconds of the bite, and their jaws are like a pair of lopping shears. Lots of torque, sharp mouth and no mercy.

 

They came from the dinosaur age and they will inherit the Earth.

Edited February 28, 2015 by TurtleWoods72

[TGB]

Used to be handed out like pills. Then it went 3yrs., then 5yrs, now I believe 10yrs. if you've not had one in last ten and you're worried, because you've been injured by sharps, etc. then get one.