Abstract

VENERO FERNANDEZ, Silvia Josefina; MOYA MACHADO, Ariel; GUTIERREZ FERNANDEZ3, Mirtha  and  FERNANDEZ CEBALLOS4 , Mercedes de la Caridad. Tetanus in childhood. Rev Cubana Hig Epidemiol [online]. 2006, vol.44, n.2, pp. 0-0. ISSN 1561-3003.

Tetanus is responsible for over a million deaths annually, most of them in developing countries. The intestinal tract in man and in some animals is the regular and harmless habitat of Clostridium tetani, a widely spread microorganism, whose spores are often detected on soil and dust at home. At the closing of 2002, tetanus incidence rate in Cuba was 0.0 per 100 000 pop. The last infant case recorded in Villa Clara took place 35 years ago and the relevant particularities of this case history, the outcome of which was the complete recovery of the child, gave rise to this paper in order that it can be taken as an example for health professionals. It was a 3 years-old boy with a history of complete immunodeficiency diagnosed by the Immunology department, and with completed vaccination schedule. He had been pricked on one of his toes at the courtyard of his house where there were horse, pig and other farming animal feces. He was admitted at the hospital and diagnosed with peritonsil abscess. When he got worse, his clinical picture was reassessed and then the diagnosis was systemic tetatus. The indicated treatment was Rocephin, Metronidazole, reactivation of tetanus toxoid vaccine, gamma globulin and antitetanus homologous serum.

Keywords : Clostridium tetani; infant tetanus.

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