Can tetanus be fatal?

Written by Li Jin Quan
General Surgery
Updated on March 05, 2025
00:00
00:00

Firstly, it must be acknowledged that if a patient with tetanus does not receive timely treatment, it can be fatal. When tetanus infection occurs, the early symptoms mainly include dizziness, headache, fatigue, loss of appetite, weak chewing, sore jaw muscles, or some heightened reflexes, or muscle tension. As tetanus worsens, it can manifest as typical clinical symptoms, mainly lockjaw, difficulty opening the mouth, sardonic smile, stiff neck, opisthotonos, and in severe cases, difficulty breathing, respiratory arrest, and even cardiac arrest. If emergency treatment is not administered promptly, the patient can die.

Other Voices

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Tang Da Wei
General Surgery
44sec home-news-image

How deep is a tetanus wound?

There is no clear boundary concerning how deep a wound needs to be to carry a risk of tetanus; mainly, it depends on whether the conditions allow for anaerobic bacteria to thrive. Particularly, wounds that are very small on the surface but deep can lead to substantial proliferation of tetanus bacilli. A common example is a foot wound caused by stepping on a nail, where the exterior opening of the wound is small, but it is deep inside, and the nail surface may be rusty and also carry a large amount of tetanus bacilli. If the wound is not promptly and thoroughly cleaned, it can lead to massive growth of tetanus bacilli, resulting in the onset of severe illness in the patient.

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Xu Jun Hui
General Surgery
47sec home-news-image

Is the tetanus shot safe?

It is safe to receive tetanus treatment at an accredited hospital. There are two types of tetanus injections: the tetanus toxoid, which requires a skin test, and the tetanus immunoglobulin, which does not require a skin test. Alcohol consumption must be avoided before using the tetanus toxoid. If the skin test is negative, the injection is safe. The other type, tetanus immunoglobulin, can be used directly without a skin test. Tetanus injections from reputable manufacturers and hospitals are safe. However, some people may experience symptoms such as pain, nausea, and vomiting during the tetanus injection. Typically, these symptoms can be alleviated and disappear with symptomatic treatment after the injection.

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Zhang Peng
General Surgery
49sec home-news-image

How is tetanus diagnosed?

For the diagnosis of tetanus, it mainly relies on relevant medical history and clinical manifestations. In terms of laboratory diagnosis, most cases involve culture of Clostridium tetani from wound tissue or polymerase chain reaction testing. Generally, a positive result can confirm a diagnosis of tetanus, but a negative result does not rule it out. Most laboratories are unable to perform these tests, and even if tetanus antibodies reach a protective level, it does not exclude a diagnosis of tetanus. If the patient has a clear history of injury or animal bites, and presents with symptoms such as lockjaw, a sardonic smile, muscle rigidity, difficulty swallowing, or persistent spasms, tetanus should be considered promptly and relevant treatment initiated.

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Gao Sen
General Surgery
53sec home-news-image

The likelihood of a wound being infected with tetanus

Tetanus is a specific infection often associated with trauma, with a high contamination rate of tetanus bacillus in traumatic wounds. On the battlefield, the contamination rate can reach 25% to 80%, although the incidence of tetanus in contaminated wounds is only about 10% to 20%. This suggests that other factors are necessary for the disease to occur, with the main factor being an anaerobic environment. If the wound is deep, with a small external opening, and contains necrotic tissue, blood clots, or is too tightly packed, this can lead to local ischemia. Additionally, if there is a co-infection with aerobic bacteria consuming residual oxygen in the wound, it creates an anaerobic environment conducive to the growth of the bacteria, thus increasing the likelihood of tetanus infection in the wound.

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Li Jin Quan
General Surgery
36sec home-news-image

Does tetanus cause fever?

When tetanus occurs, early symptoms mainly include dizziness, headache, fatigue, decreased appetite, weak chewing, sore jaw muscles, or tense facial muscles. Some cases show exaggerated reflexes or muscle tension. Generally, tetanus has its typical manifestations, such as difficulty in opening the mouth, risus sardonicus (a sardonic smile), opisthotonus (arching of the back), and stiff neck. In clinical practice, a few cases may even have a fever. Therefore, fever in tetanus is only seen in individual cases.