need help quickly tetanus scare

[bunny513]

hey on monday night i was cutting an apple and holding my 5 month old daughter. she reached out a cut her finger. It bled for a bit and i rinsed it off then used hydrogen prioxide. I called dr and nurse didnt seem to concerned told me to put neosporin on it. i bought it an hour late and applied. Later i was sitting on kitchen table and realized i have a potted plant and my son occasionally plays with dirt getting it on table. i looked in the area where i cut apple and didnt see any dirt but i am freaking out now. i went to dr and she was pushing shot. my poblem is daughter is being tested for gilberts disease which is a liver detoxing poblem so vaccinations scare me. should i just get the shot???

[bunny513]

forgot to say she has no vaccinations

[shiningpearl]

well if you are worried about tetanus the vaccine will not help for this injury, it is a preventative measure, If you are truly worried that this cut needs medical intervention, she would need a tig.  Since this happened over 24 hours ago, how is the cut looking now?  
I wouldn't worry about a little bit of soil maybe being on the table.  Tetanus can only live where there is no oxygen, blood flushed it with oxygen, plus you used H2O2. 
There "may" have been a concern if you daughter was playing with the dirt with the open wound on her hand, but it was a clean knife (except for apple juices) and it was well addressed.  Unless she has circulation problems, then I wouldn't be worried at all.  

[fruitfulmomma]

No, I would not be concerned. I've been to the er with a child who needed stitches from a cut and they didn't say anything about tetanus.

[Monkeygrrl]

I wouldn't worry about it. It bled, you cleaned it. Continue to provide aide as necessary. No shots needed.

[bunny513]

Her cut looks almost non existent like a paper cut. I've been cleaning it three times a day. It's hard not to worry about such a dreaded disease! I guess if dr was concerned she would have made her get tentanus immunoglobulin. I asked her and she said only on cases of true tetanus do we give that, but she wanted me to get shot??? I asked if shot would even do anything at this point and she said it could. Hmm interesting

[bunny513]

Her cut looks almost non existent like a paper cut. I've been cleaning it three times a day. It's hard not to worry about such a dreaded disease! I guess if dr was concerned she would have made her get tentanus immunoglobulin. I asked her and she said only on cases of true tetanus do we give that, but she wanted me to get shot??? I asked if shot would even do anything at this point and she said it could. Hmm interesting

[pers]

Originally Posted by shiningpearl 

I wouldn't worry about a little bit of soil maybe being on the table.  Tetanus can only live where there is no oxygen, blood flushed it with oxygen, plus you used H2O2. 
There "may" have been a concern if you daughter was playing with the dirt with the open wound on her hand, but it was a clean knife (except for apple juices) and it was well addressed.  Unless she has circulation problems, then I wouldn't be worried at all.  

While I agree the risk in this situation is extremely unlikely, this part isn't true.  Tetanus bacteria can only thrive in an oxygen free environment, yes.  Tetanus spores, on the other hand, can survive pretty much anything, including oxygen, then germinate into bacteria when free of oxygen again (such as in the back of a wound that is closed by stitches or healing).  I do not know if H202 destroys tetanus spores or not.  

[Monkeygrrl]

Originally Posted by bunny513 

Her cut looks almost non existent like a paper cut. I've been cleaning it three times a day.

I would stop cleaning it and leave it alone at this point. Do you actually clean a paper cut three times a day?

[bunny513]

Thank you for your help. What is done is done. I was just cleaning wound as per drs orders for four days. Just wanted some reassurance that the shot would do nothing at this point. I guess only time will tell.

[Dakotacakes]

I personally wouldnt' be concerned. It doesn't sound very high risk to me.

[bunny513]

I am making myself so sick over this. It seems like the bacteria for tetanus is everywhere. Can a dishwasher sanitize these spores? I can't find any info for cases on tetanus in infants besides neonatal??

[emmy526]

I haven't had a tetanus shot in 30 yrs, my 3 kids who are grown, have never had one....no problems...tetanus disease is mainly found in drug users who don't know how to clean their wounds or have no access to water to wash up.  Tetanus spores also live in horse dung-did your plant on the table have soil in it that had used horse dung as fertilizer?   I wouldn't be worried at all over the cut your dd got... mine have gotten much much worse, with no issues, not even infection.   

Quote:

CDC officials analyzed 233 tetanus cases reported to the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System during 2001 to 2008. The case-fatality rate was 13.2 percent among the 197 cases with known outcomes, the report says.

 That is not a lot of cases in a 7 yr period

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2011/03/31/CDC-Still-some-cases-of-tetanus-in-US/UPI-25521301603177/#ixzz2F1heB2Yi

another good article

http://ceaccp.oxfordjournals.org/content/6/3/101.full

[kathymuggle]

Originally Posted by bunny513 

I am making myself so sick over this. It seems like the bacteria for tetanus is everywhere. Can a dishwasher sanitize these spores? I can't find any info for cases on tetanus in infants besides neonatal??

Stop it!  (said firmly but lovingly)  She is fine.  It is a cut.  Let it heal.  You cleaned it and it bled a little (both good things).  I really do not think you have much cause for worry.

Tetanus is really rare.  Period.  It is rare among vaxxed and non vaxxed:

From the Centre for disease control:

"A marked decrease in mortality from tetanus occurred from the early 1900s to the late 1940s. In the late 1940s, tetanus toxoid was introduced into routine childhood immunization and tetanus became nationally notifiable. At that time, 500–600 cases (approximately 0.4 cases per 100,000 population) were reported per year.

After the 1940s, reported tetanus incidence rates declined steadily. Since the mid-1970s, 50–100 cases (~0.05 cases per 100,000) have been reported annually. From 2000 through 2007 an average of 31 cases were reported per year."

If this is off topic, just ignore it if you like- but in case it is helpful:

When I find my brain trapped in an unproductive negative worry loop, I try to visualise either blowing my worry away (often in a balloon) or sticking the worry in a box to be looked at if i ever feel the need.  I know it is hokey, but it works for me.  

[japonica]

I'm also someone who hasn't had a tetanus booster in over 30 years. And I've had scrapes, stings, splinters and the like. I'm still here.

My DD has also not had any vaccines to date, is a habitual nail biter (drives me batty) and then plays out in the dirt in the schoolyard with her fingernails bitten below the quick. It's been three years now of this and nothing has come of it. So, I suspect tetanus is a lot more difficult to acquire than just questionable wound + dirt = tetanus. BTW I don't advocate that anyone else's kids stick gnawed down fingers into the dirt, and my own kid knows it makes me uneasy, but she continues to play in that manner anyway. That's one reason we have started re-evaluating that particular vaccine, to see if it has any merit in reducing risk for her.

But a minor, indoor cut like the OP described that has been cleaned as much as that one has? I wouldn't be worrying about it.

[eminurse]

For next time, I mean.

[Marnica]

Originally Posted by eminurse 

For next time, I mean.

righhhhhhttttttttttt

[Cynthia Mosher]

eminurse, your post has been removed as it violates the guidelines of this forum. I realize you are not here and we want to welcome you as a positive and helpful member wanting to participate in beneficial and respectful discussion. But general debate of a topic goes to our Vaccination Discussions and Debate forum. Please read our rules and guidelines before posting any further.