The cell
Laurie K. McCorry, Martin M. Zdanowicz, Cynthia Y. Gonnella in Essentials of Human Physiology and Pathophysiology for Pharmacy and Allied Health, 2019
Tetanus is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium, Clostridium tetani. This bacterium produces a neurotoxin active on inhibitory synapses in the spinal cord. Motor neurons, the neurons that supply skeletal muscle and cause contraction, have cell bodies that lie in the spinal cord. Under normal circumstances, these motor neurons receive both excitatory and inhibitory inputs from various sources. The balance of these inputs results in the appropriate degree of muscle tone or muscle contraction. Tetanus toxin prevents the release of gamma amino butyric acid (GABA), an important neurotransmitter active at the inhibitory synapses. Elimination of the inhibitory inputs results in unchecked or unmodulated excitatory input to the motor neurons. The resulting uncontrolled muscle spasms initially occur in the muscles of the jaw, giving rise to the expression lockjaw. The muscle spasms eventually affect the respiratory muscles, which prevents inspiration and leads to death due to asphyxiation.
Diagnostics and therapeutics
Lois N. Magner, Oliver J. Kim in A History of Medicine, 2017
In 1889 Shibasaburo Kitasato, a Japanese physician working at Koch's Institute, isolated the tetanus bacillus and proved that, like the diphtheria bacillus, it produced a toxin that caused the symptoms of the disease when injected into experimental animals. Convulsive, back-breaking muscle spasms, lockjaw, respiratory failure, and seizures are signs of tetanus, the deadly condition caused by Clostridium tetani, a spore-forming anaerobic microbe that is almost ubiquitous in the soil. The relationship between wounds and tetanus is an ancient observation, but it was not until the 1880s that scientists found that they could transmit tetanus from victims of the disease or from soil samples to experimental animals. (Hundreds of thousands of cases of tetanus still occur throughout the world. Many of the victims are newborns who are infected when the umbilical cord is cut with an unsterile knife.)
Missing Links
Michael Fitzpatrick in Mmr And Autism, 2004
In the absence of evidence on the specific question of the effect on gut permeability to peptides of autistic enterocolitis, Dr Wakefield fell back on a range of other ‘by no means mutually exclusive hypotheses for the liaison dangereuse between gut and brain’ (Wakefield 2002). One such hypothesis is that autism results from ‘gut flora dysbiosis’, from excessive growths of various bacteria, yeasts and other organisms, from which toxins pass through the bowel lining and enter the bloodstream. There have been claims of therapeutic benefit from the treatment of Clostridium tetani with vancomycin (an antibiotic which is not absorbed from the gut) and from measures to eradicate candida (thrush). According to the Medical Research Council’s 2001 review of autism research, this is ‘an area where speculation currently outweighs published literature’ (MRC 2001:36).
Global epidemiology of viral hepatitis and national needs for complete control
Published in Expert Review of Anti-infective Therapy, 2018
Simone Lanini, Raffaella Pisapia, Maria Rosaria Capobianchi, Giuseppe Ippolito
The first step is ‘infection control’ representing the reduction of the circulation of an epidemic agent at a level that is locally acceptable. This is the epidemic profile of AHA in North America and Western Europe where HAV is still circulating but it is not perceived as major public health issue any more. The second step is the ‘diseases elimination’ that is achieved when the attributable morbidity/mortality for a specific infection agent is near to zero, though the agent is still circulating. This is the epidemic profile of tetanus in many industrial countries where toxigenic strain of Clostridium tetani are well represented in the environment but clinical cases of tetanus are exceedingly rare due to high vaccine coverage. The third step is the ‘elimination of the infection’ implying that the incidence of autochthonous cases of infections in a specific region is zero while sporadic cases due to imported cases are still possible. This is the current epidemic profile for malaria in Europe. Finally, ‘eradication’ is achieved when no more case of a specific infection are reported at global level. Smallpox is the unique example for human diseases at present.
Suspected tetanus in an unvaccinated pediatric patient
Published in Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings, 2023
Kimberly Walter, Renita Thomas, Swasti Gyawali, Sowmya Kallur
Tetanus is a life-threatening vaccine-preventable illness. It is caused by tetanospasmin, a potent exotoxin of Clostridium tetani. Tetanospasmin causes neuromuscular dysfunction by inhibiting presynaptic GABA and glycine release. This leads to tonic spasms and paroxysmal contractions of skeletal muscles.1 Spores of Clostridium tetani are present throughout the environment in soil, dust, and manure and are often transmitted to humans via contaminated wounds. Tetanus is extremely rare in the United States due to vaccination efforts, with only 20 cases reported in 2018 and 26 cases in 2019.2,3 Here, we describe a suspected case of tetanus in a 10-year-old unvaccinated child in central Texas resulting in a 1-month stay in the pediatric intensive care unit and ultimately requiring a tracheostomy tube.
Maternal immunization: where are we now and how to move forward?
Published in Annals of Medicine, 2018
Ivo Vojtek, Ilse Dieussaert, T. Mark Doherty, Valentine Franck, Linda Hanssens, Jacqueline Miller, Rafik Bekkat-Berkani, Walid Kandeil, David Prado-Cohrs, Andrew Vyse
Vaccination against tetanus, pertussis and diphtheria is included in the routine vaccination schedule in many countries, and tetanus and diphtheria are now rare diseases in industrialized countries. Most cases of tetanus occur in developing countries among new-borns or mothers following delivery in poor hygiene conditions [27]. Tetanus cannot realistically be eradicated because the causative agent of tetanus, Clostridium tetani, is widespread in the environment, highly resistant to many antimicrobial measures, and transmitted by open wound contact (as opposed to person-to-person transmission) [28]. Nevertheless, efforts are being made to reduce the burden of tetanus worldwide. These efforts focus on prevention using vaccination, improvement of perinatal care and post-exposure prophylaxis in high-risk areas [28].
Related Knowledge Centers
- Antiseptic
- Endospore
- Flagellum
- Gastrointestinal Tract
- Obligate Anaerobe
- Tetanospasmin
- Bacillus
- Tetanus
- Tetanus Vaccine
- Gram-Positive Bacteria