Tetanus is a serious infectious disease. It is caused by exotoxins, which are released by tetanus bacillus. It lives in the soil, in the intestines of animals and humans, in house dust and, falling into a wound on the skin or mucous surface, leads to dysfunction of the central nervous system.
How does tetanus develop
Symptoms (you can see a photo of them in the article) appear after the incubation period, which lasts about two weeks. But there are cases when the development of the disease occurred in just a few hours or lasted a long time - up to 50 days.
At this time, bacteria enter the nutrient medium and their active reproduction. This process is accompanied by the release of toxin, the presence of which, by the way, can give out a headache and sweating. Signs of insomnia and irritability may also appear.
You need to know that the shorter the incubation period of tetanus, the more difficult the disease itself is.
Tetanus: the first symptoms
The initial period of tetanus is expressed in the appearance of dull pulling pains around the wound, the masticatory muscles are tense, and periodic trisms (convulsive contractions) arise in them. The presence of these signs should alert the patient and make him suspect tetanus.
The first symptoms are also manifested in soreness and stiffness of movements in the back, abdomen and lower jaw. The swallowing process is difficult, it is difficult for the patient to open his mouth, and the facial muscles are convulsively contracting, which is why a pained smile is fixed on the face. The forehead shrinks, and the palpebral fissures become narrow. The patient has a fever, sweating is observed.
The height of the disease:
- The tension in the muscles of the neck increases, which causes difficulties with the head tilted forward, and then it completely throws back.
- Contraction of the back muscles causes arching of the spine.
- The abdominal muscles at this time become hard, like a board.
- If the process affects the extremities, then the patient’s body takes on the shape of a pillar, from which, by the way, the disease is called.
As the pathology develops, tetanic convulsions intensify and become more frequent, which last from a few seconds to five minutes. They are very painful. There have been cases when more than a hundred attacks per day were recorded in patients
Often they lead to a dangerous violation of the breathing process, which is why tetanus differs: the first symptoms of the disease flow into convulsions, covering even the diaphragm. By the way, any patient, even the weakest external stimulus, can cause them in a patient: touch, light, breath, sound, etc.
What is the danger of tetanus?
How tetanus will proceed in its active phase, the first symptoms of which we are considering, to a large extent depends on the timeliness of the patient's request for medical help. It is important whether the patient was vaccinated at one time, and how badly his skin is damaged.
Tetanus can cause confusion in the patient, hallucinations and delirium. All of the above can also be aggravated by cyanosis, asphyxia, apnea, and urinary and circulatory disorders. The rapidly developing spasm of the motor muscles and muscle paralysis in the heart, myocardial infarction, pneumonia, embolism, sepsis and the like pathologies can lead to the death of the patient.
To summarize, I want to repeat: remember what symptoms of tetanus can clearly indicate the presence of the disease, and urgently seek medical help, on which life depends in this case!