I learned today that there is a shortage of these. Some said that the Army is getting all of them. Others think that it is an economic problem--who wants to make tetanus vaccine when the real money is in . . . well who knows.Sunday I stepped on a bougainvillea thorn that went all the way through my shoe, my sock and into my foot. And, it was in the garden where Cindi is planting tomatoes. And, there is fresh manure fertilizer. Doc said I should definitely have it if they had any at the office. Fortunately, they just got a box and I am safe from lock jaw for another 10 years. Wanna get grossed out. Search for lock jaw or tetanus on Google and check out somebody with a frozen face. By then it's just too late. Lights out.
They said my arm should
My arm hurt -- was swollen around the injection site and got hot! I returned to the Dr. and they were startled. Said I must have had a reaction to the preservatives now in the injection. Preservatives? If they are short on tetanus shots, who needs preservatives? Don't they move through it fast enough? Maybe there aren't that many customers at 10 year booster intervals. Well, I recovered from my reaction, and the medical personal marked my chart "allergic." Huh?
ReplyDeletemy arm heart's like crazy. so does my heart. it really hearts.
ReplyDeletei didn't think it hurt much, either time that i remember getting them. just a little tenderness around the point of insertion. but full, unencumbered mobility of my limbs.
I actually didn't ever get a shot for my recent encounter with the rock, there being a shortage and all... where did it go into your foot? Did it really go all the way through your foot and come out the other side? Did you pull it out (like I would have) or did you wrap around it and let the doc pull it out (as recommended)?
ReplyDeleteVaccineinformation.org reported that from 1998-2000 "[T]he case-fatality rate for reported tetanus in the United States was 18%."
Cindi--good questions. I am glad you survived. Looks like I will too.
ReplyDeleteRob--thanks for pointing out my typo, so much for proof readers, blame the editors. I can remember when I had full mobility of my limbs; those were the days.
Timothy--82% chance of survival? Those are quite the odds. I noticed the recommendation is prevention through immunization for the best chances of survival on all sorts of communicable diseases.
The thorn went all the way through the sole of my shoe into my left heel. I pulled out the thorn before I took off my shoe [or maybe it pulled out of my heel when I took off my shoe.] I did all of that fairly fast and it relieved much of the pain. A clear puncture wound remained that showed no sign of inflammation or infection. The wound site is healing nicely. That is not an indicator for tetanus infection though.
Thanks for your link to the informative article about tetanus vaccination from the The Immunization Action Coalition. The information there is consistent with what I learned from the licensed medical professional with whom I spoke this week. I noticed that the research to which you linked us has a variety of funding sources that include the Center for Disease Control and big pharma.
I noticed that the CDC website does not report a shortage of this vaccine. So, I hope everyone gets their booster on schedule.