Health Tip: Tetanus is Rare But Serious

(HealthDay News) -- Tetanus is contracted when bacteria enter the body through a deep open wound. Sometimes called lockjaw, it damages the nervous system and causes muscles spasms and jaw cramps.

Initial symptoms of tetanus usually include headache and minor muscle spasms, often in the jaw, the Directors of Health Promotion and Education say. As the infection progresses, severe muscle spasms of the arms, legs, neck and stomach may occur, as may seizures. Symptoms usually appear within two weeks, but it may be as long as a few months before you notice any signs.

Although tetanus often is fatal, people who do survive face months of therapy and the threat of complications like high blood pressure, difficulty breathing, pneumonia, irregular heartbeat and fracture.

The best way to prevent tetanus is to be regularly immunized. See your doctor quickly if you suffer a serious puncture wound and haven''t recently been vaccinated.

-- Diana Kohnle

Last Updated: July 6, 2006