Please help! Tetanus Risk??

[Symbi]

Please read my update. It's post #8. Thanks!

Well, now that my little one is just mobile enough to get hurt, he has gotten a splinter outside on the deck (very shallow, but did not bleed at all) and a bump on his chin (also outside) that is kind of like a scrape, but it didn't bleed at all either, and it seems like there's a couple bright red dots under the surface of the skin. I tried to wipe them, thinking his chin was bleeding, but they didn't wipe off. So I could not get the scrape to bleed at all. He was so squirmy, and so I don't know if he had been more still if I could have gotten it to bleed. I washed it very well with soap and water and put hydrogen peroxide on it (also hard to do with the squirmy-ness). With the splinter, we had a hard time getting it all out. It was more like a sliver. Also applied hydrogen peroxide. It appears to have worked its way out as of this morning, but I am so nervous about tetanus, because neither of these cuts (although shallow) bled. I know that bleeding is important to reduce tetanus risk--also both injuries happened outside where dirt/soil/dust, etc. is around. Please, other moms with more experience, I would love your input on this. Since I couldn't get the cuts to bleed, is this worth getting the tetanus IgA shot?

[Gitti]

Originally Posted by Symbi

..I know that bleeding is important to reduce tetanus risk--

IF the wound is deep inside like a deep puncture wound. Certainly NOT a superficial wound that is exposed to the air which is loaded with oxygen.

Tetanus can only grow in a deep oxygen free environment.

Both blood and air (or either) is loaded with oxygen and tetanus can not grow in oxygen.

Kids are not in danger of tetanus. How do you think we ever survived without a tetanus shot if kids would get tetanus that easily?

Please don't worry. Your kids are bound to get lots of scrapes and cuts and splinters. They are not a source for tetanus.

Besides, kids just don't get tetanus. They have good blood circulation.

Tetanus is a disease of old people with diabetes and even then it is rare.

[pumpkinhead]

Originally Posted by Gitti

IF the wound is deep inside like a deep puncture wound. Certainly NOT a superficial wound that is exposed to the air which is loaded with oxygen.

Tetanus can only grow in a deep oxygen free environment.

Both blood and air (or either) is loaded with oxygen and tetanus can not grow in oxygen.

Kids are not in danger of tetanus. How do you think we ever survived without a tetanus shot if kids would get tetanus that easily?

Please don't worry. Your kids are bound to get lots of scrapes and cuts and splinters. They are not a source for tetanus.

Besides, kids just don't get tetanus. They have good blood circulation.

Tetanus is a disease of old people with diabetes and even then it is rare.

Re: the bold, unfortunately this just isn't so. http://pediatrics.aappublications.or.../full/109/1/e2
That said, the risk in this situation is ridiculously low. I wouldn't worry.

[pumpkinhead]

In order for C. tetani spores to germinate, grow and start producing toxin, it needs a completely anaerobic environment. Superficial cuts and scrapes are unlikely to provide such an environment. Deep puncture wounds that heal over quickly and do not bleed much before doing so will provide such an environment in rare cases, but these tend to be punctures caused by long, sharp objects (like nails etc) and not small splinters.

[becoming]

I would say almost no risk whatsoever in this case.

[MayBaby2007]

My dd (unvaxed) has had countless splinters. I wouldn't worry about a thing, OP!

I have original unsealed hardwood floors. That was flipping-fantastic during the crawling stage, lemmie tell ya She survived...and I don't think she ever noticed the splinters *shrugs*

[wallacesmum]

Originally Posted by pumpkinhead

Re: the bold, unfortunately this just isn't so. http://pediatrics.aappublications.or.../full/109/1/e2
That said, the risk in this situation is ridiculously low. I wouldn't worry.

I am glad you quoted that - interesting read! Couple of things I noticed. One, 15 hospitalizations, no deaths, in kids, over an eight year period. Only 9 hospitalizations under 10. The demographic is interesting, too. Of these cases, the majority (although mostly in the older children) are Amish. I think it is probably safe to assume that the older children, mostly boys, were actually WORKING the farm, not just wandering around. The vast majority of these are puncture wounds. Most are unvaccinated. Geographic distribution is quite broad.

No other information about these kids, such as diet, home treatment, or duration of infection prior to hospitalization, is noted (that I saw). The article notes that tetanus is probably under-reported, which might skew the results.

This last is curious to me. Presumably, if a case results in hospitalization, it gets reported. If a case results in death, it gets reported. So, if tetanus is not being reported, and resolving without hospitalization or death, what does that say about the rhetoric that this is always a horrible disease that ruins your life?

[Symbi]

Still very concerned

Thanks for your responses, everyone. It's two weeks later and i'm still very concerned. At the advice of a post in one of the archive threads, I used olive oil and a garlic clove to try to "draw out" the splinter. Well, instead, the garlic clove burnt my baby's skin! It even blistered and is still healing. Now that the blister has gone away and the burned area is lightening up, I actually think some of the splinter may still be in there!! (until now I thought/hoped it was long gone.) I'm so concerned and don't want to irritate the area more, but I want the splinter out! I called the doctor about it when the burn first occurred and she kind of brushed off my concerns--about the splinter, about the burn, about tetanus. I don't know what to do now. Any suggestions are welcome. I'm so worried. I read on one of the posts here that a burn can also be a tetanus risk, so I'm just looking for any help and advice in getting through what seemed initially like a very small, shallow splinter--but has turned into a big deal and caused a lot of worry. Thanks.

[alegna]

I would not worry about tetanus. Not at all.

As for getting the splinter out- lots of warm water soaks, perhaps with epsom salts, would be where I'd start.



-Angela

[purplepaisleymama]

I have used a banana peel taped with a band-aid on the site of the splinter to draw it out and I have also used a drawing salve to take splinters out. I would keep the area clean and see if you might be able to look closely while she is sleeping to determine how close the splinter is to the skin. I have had my kids have quite a few splinters for more than a week and taken them out when they have worked to the surface.
good luck,
laura

[lirpasirhc]

as a child, i had several splinters that would not come out. if they weren't causing pain (or even if they were), my mom left them alone. they never got infected and after a few weeks or months "worked themselves out" just like my mom said they would. i even had glass in the bottom of my foot 2 x. eventually both pieces of glass came out. i also had a wasp sting the bony part of my thumb. the stinger broke off apparently in my bone. years later, it came out. i hope that helps reassure you.