Non-Vaxing family Tetanus Question

[northcountrymamma]

So I was reading old threads on here and have a question:

it stems from this quote:
Tig can be used for any wounded unvaccinated or partially vaccinated person regardless of age. It is, however, a blood product so it carries all the same disease risks of receiving blood (hepatitis, hiv, etc.)

Can someone explain for me, what would happen if my unvaccinated 6yo were to be presumably exposed to tetanus? If I took her to the ER I know to refuse the vaccine which could likely be pushed upon me with incorrect notions that this would protect her. But is it wise to accept the TiG? Can someone explain more to me about what this is and what it contains...I'm having a hard time finding out about it online and in my book resources.

TIA!!

[northcountrymamma]

http://www.talecris-pi.info/inserts/BayTet.pdf
I just found this which was a huge help to my questions...sorry, this thread may not be necessary.

[ma2two]

I'm pretty sure that I would refuse the TIG because the chance of receiving contaminated blood is much higher than contracting tetanus. Only about 30 people in the U.S. get tetanus each year. They don't test blood for everything. Even the things they do test for sometimes fall through the cracks.

If it were a "classic" "tetanus wound," sure, I would worry a little until the incubation period was over. But if I allowed TIG, I would worry for the rest of my life.

[Lisa1970]

What makes you think your child was exposed to tetanus?

[Lisa1970]

People who get tetanus are, well, it is a dirty situation. It involved never even rinsing the cut. Someone is not exposed to tetanus simply by getting cut, or even getting cut by something rusty. Just gently wash the wound and apply neosporin.

[northcountrymamma]

sorry, this has been misunderstood, we don't have a situation where I think dd has been exposed to tetanus, I'm just wondering what to do if we were in such situation, as rare as it could be.

[alegna]

If I had a child in a situation where I felt tetanus was a concern (severe crushing injury, major burn, etc) I would allow Tig if drs. felt it was needed. Yes, it is a blood product and carries some risk. I would have to feel that there was a significant tetanus risk.

-Angela

[beep]

Originally Posted by northcountrymamma

So I was reading old threads on here and have a question:

it stems from this quote:
Tig can be used for any wounded unvaccinated or partially vaccinated person regardless of age. It is, however, a blood product so it carries all the same disease risks of receiving blood (hepatitis, hiv, etc.)

Can someone explain for me, what would happen if my unvaccinated 6yo were to be presumably exposed to tetanus? If I took her to the ER I know to refuse the vaccine which could likely be pushed upon me with incorrect notions that this would protect her. But is it wise to accept the TiG? Can someone explain more to me about what this is and what it contains...I'm having a hard time finding out about it online and in my book resources.

TIA!!

Tig contains antibodies against the tetanus toxin. The bug that causes tetanus, C. tetani, makes a toxin that irreversibly blocks the release of some neurotransmitters that allow muscles to relax. Therefore infected individuals end up with their muscles constantly firing ("tetany") and may develop an inability to relax enough to speak and swallow ("lockjaw"), control movements, or even to breathe. If an individual has pre-formed antibodies in his or her body (either from vaccination or from the Tig), the antibodies bind to these toxin molecules and prevent them from being able to get into the nervous system and cause damage.

Tig antibodies come from the blood of vaccinated humans. The manufacturer has a process that removes certain classes of viruses (like HIV and others) and probably also prions (like those that cause mad cow) from the preparation, but they acknowlege that there may still be a possibility that it could contain infectious agents, including from now-unknown diseases. The only allergy precaution they report is for human immunoglobulin (ig) preparations. They use alcohol, a solvent, and a detergent in the manufacturing process but these are removed from the final preparation in four stages of purifying the antibodies. In the end they produce a shot to be given in the muscle that contains 15-18% antibodies with water and an amino acid (glycine). It doesn't have preservatives.

Standard medical advice is to give the Tig if there has been a wound that might be contaminated with soil (C. tetani is normally found in soil) or other foreign materials, puncture wound, burn or frostbite in any unvaccinated, partially vaccinated, or person with unknown vaccine status. It is not recommended for clean, minor wounds.

There were several thousand reported cases of tetanus reported annually before the vaccine, and now there are something on the order of 50-100 annually in the US. The conventional wisdom is that the reason for this decrease is the widespread use of the vaccine and the Tig as well as better wound management.

[RhianaW14]

tetanus isnt THAT rare. My selective vax pediatrician suggested the vax as one of the few my dd should get. She could step on something in a playground, cut herself on a fence, prick her finger on a nail, etc..
I was fishing as a kid and I backed into someone who was casting off. Cut my whole ankle open on the dirty fish hook *barf*

Those are just some examples.

[Angela512]

Tetanus is NOT common. There are only about 50-100 per year in the United States. Being that there are currently 309,785,001. That means that out of our whole population only 1.6 - 3.2% of the population will get tetanus. Tetanus is almost the most common in older people with poor circulation (or diabetics), etc. It would be very, very unlikely for a very healthy child with a fully functioning circulatory system to get tetanus.

[ma2two]

The 50-100 cases per year is if you are counting from the 1970's. But from 2000 to 2007, there was an average of 31 cases per year.
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pin...ds/tetanus.pdf on p. 277

So yes, tetanus is EXTREMELY rare.

Angela512, you need to check your calculations for the percentage of the population that will get tetanus. Even though 100 per year is not a current number, I divided that by the U.S. population, and got 3.22 E-07 on my calculator. That does not translate to any percentages that most people can understand, it is so, so, so tiny.

[northcountrymamma]

but even for those that do get a tetanus shot...isn't it true that your doc/or the emerg doc will still recommend the TiG?

I'm not interested in vaccinating...that's not the purpose of this discussion. We don't vaccinate...I'm just curious what a non-vaxer would do in a situation where the injury appears to be a threat for tetanus.

thank you for some great responses here...I appreciate how rare tetanus really is now...I guess I didn't really know that part. We are in canada and it is apparently even more rare here.

[Fyrestorm]

I'm with Angela - If it were a severe crush or burn I would consider TiG. I would NEVER get a DTaP or DT or TT for any reason.