What are the symptoms and complications of tetanus?
A common first sign of tetanus is painful stiffness in the jaw muscles (lockjaw), followed by stiffness of the neck, difficulty in swallowing, rigidity of the stomach muscles, spasms, sweating and fever. Complications involve the respiratory muscles causing interference with breathing. Fractures of the spine or long bones, hypertension, abnormal heartbeats, coma, generalized infection, clotting in the blood vessels of the lung, and pneumonia can occur. One out of every two people with tetanus will die from it. How soon after infection do symptoms occur? The incubation period is usually 10 days but may range from three days to three weeks. Shorter incubation periods are associated with wounds that are heavily contaminated with tetanus bacteria. Does past infection with tetanus make a person immune? Recovery from tetanus may not result in immunity. Immunization is indicated even after recovery from tetanus disease. What is the treatment for tetanus? Wounds should be thoroughly cleaned, a
