Emergency question - please respond! r: tetnus

[Artichokie]

nak

i am so scared. i am shaking and my blood is running cold.

my 9 mo old is currently unvax, which is a decision we've felt very comfortable with up to now.

Yesterday i discovered a large splinter in the sole of her foot. It was a bit red and puffy. I was able to remove it with twezers that I washed in hot soapy water. I had to open the entry wound to get it out. It was pretty deep and lo was very wiggly and it was obviously tender to the touch. i washed her foot before and after and rinsed it with hydrogen peroxide. It bubbled a lot.

my books accknowledge that a person can get tetnus from a splinter. While I was able to get out a big chunk, I fear that there is some deep in there, festering.

would you go get your lo a tetnus shot premptivly in this situation?

I feel so alone and scared and unsure. I had nightmares all night.

[lirpasirhc]

i wouldn't get a shot. i would think that the wound is more likely to get infected by something other than tetanus. does your child have good circulation? your child doesn't have diabetes? then tetanus probably isn't a risk. i would probably make sure to have good foods high in vit A and SA to try to boost the immune system and ward off any infection. if my child had risk factors for tetanus, then i would consider getting TIG, but i would not get DTaP. DTaP would be useless b/c it doesn't trigger an immune system response for about 3 weeks and tetanus incubates over about 2 weeks. maybe researching tetanus treatment will help you sleep more?

[MissRubyandKen]

Aside from tetanus from the umbilical stump, tetanus in babies and young children is very rare. I'm sorry your lo was injured. I wanted to send a hug and some support. If you truly fear infection, by all means please take your lo to a health care provider. As the pp said some other type of infection is much more likely, so keep a close eye on it. A little bit of inflammation is good. That's her body doing its thing, yk? If the redness or soreness increases, any fever, any streaking, these things could be a sign of a more serious infection that her body might need help dealing with. If you're nursing I would encourage the babe to do so as much as possible. Give baby plenty of kisses and hugs. I like to doing a warm salt water soak for wounds like this once or twice.

[Ophelia]

I agree, from what I have read there is more chance of getting an infection than there is tetanus. It is also my understanding that if someone is not vaxed and is at risk for tetanus, the tetanus shot after the fact does no good. It may possibly have some effect for those who HAVE been previously vaxed. You'll want to research that some more.

Plus if there is a risk for tetanus, there is a tetanus immunoglobulin they can give (blood product).

I would watch for infection and like PP said, soak in warm salt water.

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...0&postcount=11

please do your own research though and do what you feel comfortable with.

[bri276]

It is your choice, but I personally would be much more worried about the effects of DTaP than a possible tetanus infection. It would be incredibly rare for a healthy child of her age to get tetanus. And because she hasn't been vaccinated with DTaP before, the real treatment would be TIG- immune globulin. Tetanus vaccines for wounds are only for those who are "up to date". A new tetanus vaccine would take 13 days for the body to have adequate antibodies to tetanus toxin, probably not enough anyways in an infant with a first time vaccine.

I would be more worried about more common bacterial infections. If the redness and swelling persists, or looks worse beyond a day or two, it is possible there is a piece left inside- it should work it's own way out, but in the event you need to get medical care, make sure you are 100% sure on what you want to do about the tetanus issue because it's likely you will be placed under a lot of pressure.

http://www.nccn.net/~wwithin/tetanus.htm

[mkmoro311]

Have you tried the homeopathic remedy ledum 30?

[Pariah]

I can't even remember how many splinters and such I've had in my life from playing outside and working with wood. Tetanus has never crossed my mind, to be honest. I would just watch it for any signs of non-tetanus infection like a PP stated, and keep it clean with the peroxide.

DTaP would be useless b/c it doesn't trigger an immune system response for about 3 weeks and tetanus incubates over about 2 weeks.

This, too.

[peainthepod]

Everyone else has already made the points I was going to make so I'll just offer hugs and support.

Your little one will be okay!

[east carolina]

It'll be okay Mama!

I see the tetanus issue this way. I think it's very hard for the body to built lifelong immunity to tetanus after surviving a natural infection, so I have my doubts as to the efficacy of the vax. I personally believe the vax does not offer very long lasting immunity at all, so even if your DD were vaxed, that still woudln't mean that she was protected from tetanus. I don't want to alarm you, I just want to show you that you might feel the same way even if she were fully vaxed.

I agree with pps, that the rest of the splinter will come out on its own and the chance of it getting infected with something other than tetanus is more likely. Tetanus is infection is extremely rare. Leave the wound exposed to air, wash it frequently, give your DD sodium ascorbate to drink alot, make sure she eats well and rests well.

[Gitti]

We have seen lots of splinters in our days because we had a wood deck that was pretty much worn and splintery. No matter how often I warned the kids and neighborhood kids who all hung out at our house since we also had the pond, they kept coming up on the deck bare foot. Lots of splinters! It was so bad that I kept tweezers handy for anyone to use.

Never once did I recommend the tetanus shot and never once did we have any problems. We took out the splinters and cleaned it out with hydrogen peroxide. That's it.

Tetanus is not something that you will see in kids. Kids bleed too quickly. They have a healthy circulatory system and that's what it's all about with tetanus.

A person who is old and has maybe diabetes may be in danger in that situation, but not a child.

Keep putting the H2O2 on and don't worry about the little splinters, they'll work themselves out.

Let us know that YOU are alright. I am sure your child will be fine.

[Artichokie]

Hi mamas.

Thank you all so very much for the words of reassurance. As of yesterday the wound was completely closed and nearly healed, so I'm not worried about infection. I guess really the issue was (is) that this was the first time that I had to face the possible consequences of our no vax decision, and it terrified me.

I should note that I know that the actual tetanus vax would be useless for the reasons listed above. I meant the tig, bbut was paniced and naking and just threw down what I was thinking at the time, kwim. since my post I've discovered that tib is only effective if given before 72 hours after infection, so we are just taking the wait and see approach.

It is so wonderful that this community of support and info exists.

[lirpasirhc]

i'm so glad that your baby is healing and that you are feeling better!