My dh had a tetanus/diptheria shot today. :(

[Spectrolite]

Vent.

I'm so pissed, frustrated, ANNOYED. I've been doing my hw on vaxes for 3 weeks and I'm leaning no-vax.
I've been doing the research myself and regurtitating info to my DH, and he's been on my side all the way.

Ok. Today he cuts his thumb open while helping me take out the oven door so I can clean it properly. The hinge snapped down and slashed it open. The tissue was hanging right off. Gross....4 stitches needed, but he's ok.

Before his dad came to take him to the hospital, i thought, ok, they'll prob want to give him a tetanus shot. So I warned him about that, and told him in the end, you decide, it's up to you. But, I said, the hinge was not particularly dirty, i hadn't wiped it with my germy rag. There was no grease, etc on it. I told him to TELL the doctor that!!!!

So he comes home and yep, they gave him the bloody shot. I'm SO ANGRY. at the dr's for puncturing him, for DH for just going along REGARDLESS of EVERYTHING i've been telling him.

GRRR.

Then i got scared. What about shedding virus. I freaked out because we have a 6 mo lo, non vaxed. Like i said, i haven't touched upon tetanus or diptheria yet, so i just freaked out.

But, please reassure me that there is no shedding from those two, that they are not viruses. Tetatnus for sure ain't, but diptheria, it's not a live virus as far as i know??

Now i have to be concerned with watching my DH now for adverse reactions?!?!?!?!? %&#)€ great.

[alegna]

Those don't shed. They aren't viruses either



Your dh is likely to have some vax reaction- swelling at the site, redness, heat, etc. It's possible he will have reduced movement in that arm for awhile. Hope he feels better soon!

-Angela

[runes]

Both tetanus and diphtheria are caused by bacteria, not virii, and it is not a live vaccine.

Here is the package insert for the vaccine, so you can alert him to some of the reactions to watch out for (since it's highly probable that the ER did NOT give him the package insert nor inform him fully of the risks of this vaccine.)

Speedy healing!!

[KimberlyD0]

Sorry you go scared. Its not a live vaccine so you shouldn't have to worry.

I also got a tetnus shot just a week ago. I stepped on a VERY rusty nail. I wasn't taking a risk. I've seen what tetnus could do *shudder* I grew up in farm country and have has my tetnus regularly since I was small, I've had way to many risks for getting it I was and am a very clumsy person. I also sew the resent documentory with Salma Hayek (the one who BF the starving baby) and seeing what it does. Especially that poor little 5 week old baby die It really sulidified what I had been researching.

Tetnus is not one I would give for no reason. However I wouldn't want my LO's to go through that either so if it were needed, like they did what I did, then I would be comfortable giving it to them. Like I said though, not unless something like that happend.

I may have read wrong, but it does sound like he was ok with having the jab though. You did say it was his choice. The can't give it without concent. At least here anyway. I had to give written concent for mine.

I DID get the package insert, I've gotten it for all my girls vaccinations as well. I haven't had any reaction. Not even localized pain of the injection sight.

[MountainMamaGC]

Those babies in africa get tetnus from their parents wiping cow dung on the umbilucus after birth.

A tetnus shot will do diddly squat after potential exposure. If the doctor was actually concerned about tetnus he would give you a TIG shot not a vaccine. If the wound bleeds a lot and is open to air your chance of getting tetnus is very very very small.

[KimberlyD0]

Originally Posted by Lydiah

Those babies in africa get tetnus from their parents wiping cow dung on the umbilucus after birth.

A tetnus shot will do diddly squat after potential exposure. If the doctor was actually concerned about tetnus he would give you a TIG shot not a vaccine. If the wound bleeds a lot and is open to air your chance of getting tetnus is very very very small.

It was in the barn that is FULL of cow dung, horse dung, chicken dung, and other animals. It wasn't bleeding much at all, and because of the location wasn't getting much air.

The doctors did the right thing. I've had this before. Several times.

I'm not saying it should be done routinely at all. But for my situation it was right.

[mamakay]

Originally Posted by Lydiah

Those babies in africa get tetnus from their parents wiping cow dung on the umbilucus after birth.

A tetnus shot will do diddly squat after potential exposure. If the doctor was actually concerned about tetnus he would give you a TIG shot not a vaccine. If the wound bleeds a lot and is open to air your chance of getting tetnus is very very very small.

If you're already mostly immune to tetanus, giving the toxoid will quickly boost your immunity, and take the chances of developing tetanus from "almost impossible" to "essentially impossible". TIG is indicated for people not already "up to date" with their tetanus shots.

[mamakay]

Originally Posted by KimberlyD0

It was in the barn that is FULL of cow dung, horse dung, chicken dung, and other animals. It wasn't bleeding much at all, and because of the location wasn't getting much air.

The doctors did the right thing. I've had this before. Several times.

I'm not saying it should be done routinely at all. But for my situation it was right.

Yeah, I think it was the right thing in that situation, too. If you're at risk of being injured around cow and horse poo, being immune to tetanus probably isn't a bad idea.

[Marnica]

Originally Posted by Lydiah

Those babies in africa get tetnus from their parents wiping cow dung on the umbilucus after birth.

A tetnus shot will do diddly squat after potential exposure. If the doctor was actually concerned about tetnus he would give you a TIG shot not a vaccine. If the wound bleeds a lot and is open to air your chance of getting tetnus is very very very small.

:

[Ophelia]

Originally Posted by Spectrolite

So he comes home and yep, they gave him the bloody shot. I'm SO ANGRY. at the dr's for puncturing him, for DH for just going along REGARDLESS of EVERYTHING i've been telling him.

I hear ya DH does the SAME thing. Last year he sliced his hand on a metal computer chassis. I'm sure it bled. Of course, got the shot. Then after he asked me if I would get the shot and I said something like probably not, then of course he proceeds to try and guilt-trip me. He also gets flu shots despite the info I send him on that he knows I do a heck of a lot more research than him and he's even admitted that, but I guess the CDC and DOH scaremongering is a greater force and it's hard to believe different from what you've been told for so many years.

[Emmeline II]

DTaPIn the United States, tetanus is primarily a disease of older adults. Persons greater than or equal to 50 years of age now account for over 70% of reported cases. An average of 43 people per year contract Tetanus and there are 0-2 deaths out of a population of 301,139,947 (over 300 MILLION) in the US. (In comparison (FEMA) estimates there are 200 deaths and 750 severe injuries from lightning each year in the U.S.). A Tetanus vax at time of injury is supposed to be a booster to those current on vax and TIG (tetanus immunoglobulin) is for the unvaxed.

From 1992 through 2000 (9 years), 15 cases of tetanus in children <15 years of age were reported from 11 states. Two cases were in neonates <10 days of age;the other 13 cases were in children who ranged in age from 3to 14 years. The median length of hospitalization was 28 days; 8 children required mechanical ventilation. There were no deaths. (I don't have info on their state of health or wound care).

It is not the rust that causes tetanus, so a rusty nail in and of itself is not the issue. Tetanus needs an anaerobic environment to thrive. A wound that has bled is not typically that environment. Keep it clean and covered.

"Keep in mind that the tetanus vaccine became available for widespread civilian use in the late 1940's. Thus tetanus mortality had declined from 205 deaths per 100,000 wounds in the American Civil War (1860) to about .4 deaths per 100,000 population in 1947 at the beginning of widespread civilian use of the vaccine. This means that sanitation, nutrition, year around nutritional improvements, general hygiene, and wound hygiene had reduced the mortality and incidence of tetanus by as much as 99.8 percent before the widespread use of tetanus vaccine." Hilary Butler 89wds


http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/medica...ium_tetani.htm
http://www.textbookofbacteriology.net/clostridia.html

It is not the very presence of the bacteria which causes the trouble, but the toxins that are produced by the bacteria under anaerobic conditions, that is, where the bacteria operates in an environment free of oxygen. These toxins can be spread through the blood vessels and finally affect the nervous system causing tetanic muscle contraction and pain.

[KimberlyD0]

Originally Posted by mamakay

Yeah, I think it was the right thing in that situation, too. If you're at risk of being injured around cow and horse poo, being immune to tetanus probably isn't a bad idea.

Thats all I was meaning is that sometimes it is the best option. I don't think its always the right option, but its there if its needed.

Had it been a different situation, a non rusted nail, bleeding, and no animal dung, I probably wouldn't have gotten it. Who is to say. My girls don't have them, but were they to get hurt in the barn I would at least concider it.

[alegna]

while the farm is a consideration, rust has nothing to do with tetanus

-Angela

[Spectrolite]

Yeah, what's the deal with the rusty nail=tetanus? is it a big myth? Before I ever started researching vaxes, I would immediately make that connection in my mind.

thanks for the hugs guys

[BarnMomma]

I'm kidn of butting in here becasue we're horse people and DS (18 mo) is at the barn with me daily. He is totally unvaxed and I'd like to keep it that way but tetanus makes me paranoid.

Am I wrong in thinking that he'll be fine as long as the wound bleeds and if it doesn't we can get a TIG?

[KimberlyD0]

Living on a farm does increase the risks of tetnus. We do selective vaccinations, tetnus for me is not a "have to have it" vaccine, but its also one I would concider if I felt it was needed. At this time the girls are never in the barn or around the animals, but as they get older and help out chances are they will get the shot then, but not before that point.

My limited understanding is that if you have gotten the tetnus shot before, as I have (about 3 times if I rememeber right) and they are up to date, then your fine, they'll clean it up, stitch it all that stuff, If its been more then 10 years you get a booster of the tetnus shot, which is what I got.

If the cut is superfisial, (not deep) and easy to clean there is little to worry about, if its bleeding a lot then there is little to worry about, of course you'll want to be sure stitches are not needed

If its a very deep cut that can't be cleaned, it doesn't bleed and it has the chance of being contaminated with animal droppings of any sort then it should at least be a concideration. Not saying you have to do it, but consideration should be made. If you've never had a tetnus shot then the TIG shot is given rather then the tetnus.

Now this is just my basic understanding of it. The details are a bit confusing.

[bri276]

Am I wrong in thinking that he'll be fine as long as the wound bleeds and if it doesn't we can get a TIG?

A German teenager recently got tetanus after an injury that basically amounted to a rug burn on the knee. I don't buy the bleeding=no tetanus, always- if it's a really deep wound, you don't necessarily know what's going on in there or if you've been able to get all the horse manure (or whatever) out. TIG is a human plasma product, pooled from many people- although it is treated, there is the potential risk of contracting a virus. They would not just give TIG, they would do a DTaP at the same time in a child who came in unvaccinated with a wound.

[greeneyedmama]

DP did the same thing! We do not vaccinate our LO's, but when he sliced his thumb open with a knife at work, he got the tetanus shot in the ER. I don't think he thought about it too much, lol. But I was a little worried! He is fine, though. Just hope he THINKS next time!

[paquerette]

Originally Posted by Spectrolite

Yeah, what's the deal with the rusty nail=tetanus? is it a big myth? Before I ever started researching vaxes, I would immediately make that connection in my mind.

The rust is a myth, which originally got started because the most common type of nail one would step on would be a horseshoe nail, which obviously got lost somewhere that horses would go, and thus probably a lot of horse poop around. Plus the fact that stepping on a nail causes a puncture wound that has a tendency not to bleed and aerate well. And horseshoe nails are usually (always?) plain old forged iron, which rusts really darn fast (ever left water in your cast iron skillet overnight?), so if you stepped on one of those babies it would likely be rusty.

[Spectrolite]

Ok, both tetanus and diptheria are bacteria.

My dh has a cold sore /herpes (virus, right? ) on the side of his lower lip as of Thursday (5 days after the shot). He has had them before, but not in that particular spot before. It's already nearly gone today though.

Just curious about this. I'm doubting it's a direct reaction, but can it be due to the lower of his immune system? Or a way of his body to rid of the toxins?