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Tetanus
Make it clearer
Tetanus isn't something you catch from another person: nobody passes it to you by coughing or shaking your hand. It comes from a bacterium, Clostridium tetani, that arrives as a spore, its armored version, the tough shell it uses to survive outside until it finds a wound to get in through. Once inside, it makes a toxin, meaning a poison produced by the bacterium itself, and that poison is what causes the trouble.
Think of a muscle as a car with a gas pedal and a brake. The order to tighten is the gas pedal, and there's another order that tells it when to let go: that's the inhibitory nerve signal, the one that puts a limit on the contraction. Tetanus toxin blocks exactly that brake. With the brake cut and the gas pedal wide open, the muscle stays clenched and jerks on its own: that's the stiffness and the spasms.
In brief
Tetanus is a disease caused by a toxin produced by the bacterium Clostridium tetani.
Its spores, a resistant form of the bacterium, can enter through a wound. The toxin blocks inhibitory nerve signals, which normally limit muscle contraction; this can cause stiffness and spasms.
Inhibition acts as a physiologic brake: the toxin does not press the muscle's accelerator; it removes part of that brake.
Unlike many infections, tetanus does not spread from person to person.
Sources (2)
- World Health OrganizationTetanusPublished
- Centers for Disease Control and PreventionClinical Overview of TetanusPublished
This page explains the topic in general terms; it does not tell anyone what treatment to follow.
Updated