We've all heard that stepping on a rusty nail can give you tetanus, and ... it's true! But not for the reason you might think. Rust doesn't actually cause tetanus.
Not exactly. Tetanus is caused by a bacteria called Clostridium tetani, which makes its home in soil, dust, and feces. If you get a puncture wound from something that's been exposed to any one of those elements, regardless of whether there's rust, it's possible to become infected with tetanus. Nails are a common route for infection because C. tetani thrives in an oxygen-deprived setting like the one far below your skin's surface. Still, every injury that breaks the skin — from a dog bite to a safety-pin mishap — carries with it the potential for tetanus.
So why the old wives' tale about rust causing tetanus, you ask? According to HowStuffWorks, "... the thinking goes that if the nail has been outside long enough to get rusty, then it's probably been exposed to soils containing the bacteria." Rust also creates a new, rough texture on the surface of a nail, full of microscopic hiding places for bacteria.
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The disease's effects can be severe, even fatal: C. tetani releases a powerful neurotoxin called tetanospasmin that can cause muscle stiffness and convulsive spasms that usually begin in the jaw — thus the infection's nickname, "lockjaw." If you suspect you're at risk for tetanus, it's a good idea to check if you're up to date on your vaccines. Most people are vaccinated for tetanus when they're young but don't get regular tetanus boosters. If you're in doubt, it might be time to call the doctor.
Tens of thousands of lives could be saved each year from sickness and death caused by malaria following the World Health Organization (WHO) approval of a first-ever vaccine. Scientists have recommended the RTS, S vaccine for children in sub-Saharan Africa and other high-risk areas to prevent one of the world’s oldest and deadliest infectious diseases.Stepping on a rusty nail is the typical example of how someone contracts tetanus, but you don’t have to be anywhere near old, rusty metal to be at risk of getting the disease.
Tetanus is a serious, sometimes fatal disease that affects your nervous system. It’s caused by a bacterial neurotoxin that leads to painful muscle contractions and spasms, especially in the neck and jaw, which is why it’s commonly called “lockjaw.” The involuntary spasms can lead to severe breathing difficulty, broken bones and other serious issues.
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The disease itself is rare in the United States because the tetanus vaccine is so effective and is regularly administered to our population. However, the bacteria that causes tetanus isn’t rare, and its spores are found most commonly in dust, soil, feces and saliva.
The tetanus bacteria can infect us with any break of the skin. Because it’s an anaerobic bacteria, meaning it thrives without oxygen, it can infect someone more easily if it reaches deep below the skin’s surface.
That’s why a rusty nail is the perfect example of a tetanus threat: It’s dirty (it could be carrying bacterial spores); it’s a common, everyday object; and it can easily cause a puncture wound that delivers the bacterial spores deep into the skin.
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The 6-year-old Oregon boy recently in the news for contracting tetanus was in the perfect scenario for the disease to take hold. He hadn’t been vaccinated, and he cut himself playing on the family farm – an environment full of that dust, soil, feces and saliva where tetanus bacterial spores are found.
Animal bite injuries and wounds that could be contaminated with dust, soil or feces put us at risk for tetanus. Crush injuries, too, are high-risk because they create lots of spaces where tetanus bacteria can develop.
The onset of tetanus usually begins between three days and three weeks after an injury. Symptoms include muscle pain, muscle spasms, difficulty breathing and difficulty swallowing.
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From a medical perspective, tetanus is an interesting, unusual disease because of the way the bacterial neurotoxin decreases the body’s natural inhibition of neurons.
Treatment includes limiting stimuli in the room, as something as simple as lights or sounds can trigger muscle spasms. This treatment is in addition to antibiotics, wound care, medicine to help control muscle spasms and a medication called human tetanus immune globulin. If needed, mechanical ventilation and supplemental nutrition are used.
There is no “cure” for tetanus, but the above treatments serve to prevent progression of the disease, manage symptoms and prevent complications.
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Getting vaccinated with the tetanus vaccine is the smartest way to prevent the disease. Anyone following the typical vaccine schedule recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would have received their first tetanus shots in childhood, as early as the 1940s.
Children typically receive six doses of the vaccine before reaching adulthood, packaged as a diphtheria and tetanus (DT) vaccine; a diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTaP) vaccine; or a tetanus and diphtheria (Td) vaccine. This includes the initial three-shot series, which helps to form the basis for immunization and three boosters prior to adulthood.
Adults should receive tetanus vaccines every 10 years, as part of a tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis (Tdap) vaccine or Td vaccine. However, if you suffer a high risk wound, the CDC recommends you receive a tetanus vaccine at the time of the injury if your last vaccine was more than five years ago.
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Farmers and other workers or hobbyists are encouraged to get a tetanus shot every five years if they regularly come into contact with dirt and feces and could easily cut themselves.
There are few downsides to getting the tetanus vaccine more often than the 10-year recommendation. Tetanus is such a serious disease that emergency departments are quick to administer the vaccine to prevent tetanus if the patient is unsure of when they last received the tetanus vaccine.
In addition to emergency departments, tetanus vaccines are typically available in urgent care centers, primary care offices and in some pharmacies. Pharmacists aren’t trained to evaluate wounds, but some can administer vaccines.Though they're indispensable to any construction project, nails are so dangerous that it's a wonder that you don't need a permit to buy them at the hardware store. When trying to hammer a nail into its final destination, the risk of hammering a thumb instead is extremely high. Using a nail gun to place the nails isn't any safer; a simple Internet search will procure gruesome stories of nail gun-related injuries. And even when you're safely ensconced within your automobile, a nail can still produce danger and frustration in the form of a flat tire. But to many people, there is no nail more dangerous than the fabled rusty nail. Legend has it that stepping on a rusty nail will cause tetanus.
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Tetanus is also known as lockjaw because one of the first symptoms is muscle contraction in the area around the mouth, which leaves the mouth rigidly frozen. Those muscle contractions can spread throughout the body, sometimes resulting in spasms so intense that they cause fractures [source: Brody]. Spasms can also result in difficulty swallowing or breathing, and other symptoms of the condition include drooling, irritability, fever and sweating. These symptoms usually start to appear one week after infection, though they may appear as soon as a few days after, or even a few weeks after infection. Without treatment, one out of three people die from tetanus [source: Medline Plus].
A tetanus vaccine is part of a standard vaccination regime for infants, but its effects can wear off over time. For that reason, adults are urged to get a booster vaccine every 10 years. Because many people stop getting these vaccines as the years go by, older people make up 70 percent of reported cases of tetanus [source: Brody]. But is a rusty nail the culprit? If so, why? And if not, what causes tetanus?
The old wives' tale is true -- stepping on a rusty nail has the potential to cause tetanus. But so can a perfectly clean nail, a sewing needle or a scratch from an animal.
Do Rusty Nails Really Give You Tetanus?
Tetanus is caused by bacteria known as Clostridium tetani, which is commonly found in soil, dust and animal feces. Because of its presence in soil and manure, gardeners and others who work in agriculture are particularly at risk for exposure to this bacteria; indeed, some farmers may even have it on their skin. But city-dwellers aren't completely safe -- a dusty sidewalk or street may harbor just as many bacteria.
In the soil or on the skin, C. tetani isn't dangerous, because it can only reproduce in an oxygen-deprived setting. A puncture wound, such as one that might occur from stepping on a nail, can provide that breeding ground. Within the wound, C. tetani releases a neurotoxin known as tetanospasmin, which may be the second most powerful toxin after botulinum [source: Krasner]. It takes only a small amount of tetanospasmin, which causes tetanus's signature muscle contractions and spasms by affecting the nerves, to do the trick.
Rust is not in and of itself a C. tetani carrier; rather, the thinking goes that if the nail has been outside long enough to get
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