What is the tetanus vaccine?
The tetanus vaccine is a shot that protects you against the disease tetanus. This disease is rare but it can be fatal. It is an infection caused by bacteria. These bacteria live everywhere in the outdoors, especially in soil. The bacteria can enter your body through a break in the skin, such as a cut. When you are infected, powerful poisons produced by the bacteria cause the muscles to contract uncontrollably in spasms. Tetanus is also called lockjaw because the most common symptom is tightening of the jaw muscles caused by spasms of the neck and jaw muscles.
