Tetanus Tetanus is a very serious disease and is frequently called lockjaw (National Coalition for Adult Immunization). It was first discovered by a Japanese researcher, Kitasato, in 1889(Family health and family guide). This disease effects the nervous system and is caused by bacteria. It is contracted through a cut or wound that becomes infected. This bacteria is called Clostridium tatani (The doctors from medicine net .com). This bacteria is found all over the world in things such as soil, dust, and manure or the intestines of human beings (National Coalition for Adult Immunization). Tetanus is most common in warm climates and in highly cultivated rural areas ( Wyngaarden, James 1390). The bacteria can get in through even a …show more content…
Between 1998 and2000, the United states Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) statistics show that almost half of the injuries resulting in tetanus infection happened indoors, or at home. In the United States, three of every ten persons who get tetanus die from it. For those who survive, recovery can be long and difficult, lasting anywhere from one to two months. Muscle spasms usually reduce after about two weeks and disappear after another week or two, but the person may be weak and stiff for a longer period of time. Other difficulties include breathing problems, bone fractures, high blood pressure, abnormal heartbeats, clotting in the blood vessels of the lung (Health Promotion and education). Tetanus is a major problem in emerging countries where immunization of children is not required or enforced. In the United States, most states require tetanus immunization before they go to school. Cases average between 50 and 100 per year, mostly in under-immunized older adults. The number of cases per year worldwide has been estimated at one million. There was a clear decrease in tetanus related deaths from the early 1900s to the late 1940s. In the late 1940s tetanus shots were introduced into normal childhood immunization and the public health departments began to keep track of the number of tetanus problems. Since the 1940s, the reported number, of tetanus have dropped. However, over the past decade, the rate has reduced only slightly. In