Why tetanus?

An elderly uncle of mine was recently diagnosed with tetanus. Although I don’t know much about tetanus, kindly let me know what could have caused my uncle’s problem.

Nolly (by SMS)

Tetanus is a serious disease of the nervous system caused by a toxin-producing bacterium. The disease causes muscle contractions, particularly of your jaw and neck muscles. Tetanus is commonly known as lockjaw. Severe complications of tetanus can be life-threatening.

There’s no cure for tetanus. Treatment focuses on managing symptoms and complications until the effects of the tetanus toxin resolve. Because of the widespread use of vaccines, cases of tetanus are rare in the United States and other parts of the developed world. The disease remains a threat to people who aren’t up to date on their vaccinations. It’s more common in developing countries.

The average time from infection to appearance of signs and symptoms (incubation period) is 10 days. The incubation period can range from 3 to 21 days. The most common type of tetanus is called generalised tetanus.

Signs and symptoms begin gradually and then progressively worsen over two weeks. They usually start at the jaw and progress downward on the body.

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