Childhood Diseases and Illnesses
Tetanus
Description/Symptoms
- Caused by nerve toxins produced by tetanus bacteria. It is most commonly found in soil.
- Symptoms include stiffness and convulsive spasms of skeletal muscles. The muscle stiffness usually involves the jaw (lockjaw) and neck.
- Not contagious from person to person. It is the only vaccine preventable disease that is infectious but not contagious.
- Spread from tetanus spores being introduced into the body through a puncture wound or laceration contaminated with:
- soil
- street dust or
- animal or human feces
- Symptoms usually appear within 3 to 21 days, but may range from 1 day to several months, depending on the character, extent and location of the wound; average is 10 to 14 days.
- Note: Cases related to injection drug use, animal bites and lacerations have been reported
Instructions for Schools
- Needs to be reported to Peel Public Health. Please see Handling and Reporting Communicable Diseases for reporting procedures.
- For reporting cases, complete a Notification of Disease in Schools form (PDF 171KB, 2 Pages).
- Student may return to school when well enough to participate.
- Remember to protect the confidentiality of the student by not disclosing a diagnosis to concerned parents and/or colleagues. If contact follow up of those exposed is required Peel Public Health will contact those who are at risk.
Notes
- Vaccinations are given as part of the routine childhood immunization schedule and every 10 years as an adult.
- Continued attention should be given to improving tetanus immunization in birth outside Canada and absence of immunization records
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