This month in Angola, a nation in southern Africa, our team cared for a 10-year-old boy. He was confused, spitting constantly, and several times each minute his arms and legs suddenly contracted in spasms for a few seconds before relaxing again. His mother explained that eight days earlier, he underwent a traditional rite that involved small cuts on his forearm. When asked about routine childhood vaccinations, she replied “Never.”
Is tetanus even real? Perhaps this disease was simply fabricated as a means for of enhancing the wealth of pharmaceutical companies or as a way of subjugating the autonomy of populations?
This public domain Wikimedia photo is not that of the child and it shows contractions typical of advancing tetanus – a disease that for millennia has killed 90 percent of people afflicted. Even with today’s modern medical interventions, one person in five never the less succumbs to death by tetanus.
Tetanus vaccine is miraculously effective. 19 out of every 20 people who receive the standard three-dose childhood vaccination series are protected for at least 10 years. And the risks of tetanus are ever-present: the tetanus bacteria spores are present throughout soil, dust, and manure. In the United States, about 92 percent of children are vaccinated but only 60 percent for adults. Because of waning immunity, adults need to be vaccinated every 10 years throughout their lives.
The most dangerous time for tetanus around the world is at birth. The newly-cut, exposed umbilical cord of a newborn is quite vulnerable to tetanus bacteria. The most effective prevention is the mother’s own anti-tetanus antibodies, which easily pass to the baby through the placenta. For this reason, up-to-date tetanus vaccine is essential for all pregnant women.
What about side effect? A sore arm is common for 2-3 days following vaccination. Very rarely, serious side effects include seizures or fever over 40 degrees Celsius. But without protection, our 10-year-old child died just two hours later.
The great irony of tetanus vaccine – like other effective vaccines against measles, polio, and diphtheria – is that their success fuels complacency because the disease they prevent no longer seem to be a threat. But what a travesty that periodic deaths from tetanus appear to be inevitable for people to realize that tetanus is indeed real.