How long does tetanus antibodies last?

Tetanus vaccine generally needs to be administered within 24 hours of injury, and the protection time is not particularly long, and may last for several months. If a long period of time passes after the injection, and you are stabbed by a sharp object, you need to get another tetanus injection to prevent it. In case of trauma, you must pay attention to the hygiene of the affected area, keep the area dry, change the dressing on time every day, and don't be careless.

Tetanus vaccine is made with tetanus toxoid. The traditional production process includes: culturing toxin-producing tetanus bacteria in a liquid culture medium that is conducive to toxin production, harvesting the toxin by filtration, detoxifying it with formaldehyde to make a toxoid, purifying it through several steps, and finally sterilizing it. To increase immunogenicity, the toxoids are adsorbed with aluminum or calcium salts. Adsorbed tetanus toxoid is given by injection into the muscle. Tetanus toxoid is relatively stable and can be exposed to an ambient temperature of 20°C for several months and stored at 37°C for several weeks without a significant decrease in potency. However, if the ambient temperature reaches 56°C, the vaccine will be destroyed within 2 hours. Vaccines containing tetanus toxoid should be stored at +4 (2–8)°C. If the vaccine has been frozen it should not be used.

Tetanus is a specific infection often associated with trauma. Wounds of all types and sizes may be contaminated, especially open fractures, wounds containing rust, small and deep puncture wounds, blind tube trauma, and firearm injuries, which are more susceptible to contamination with Clostridium tetani. The most common puncture wounds in children are in the hands and feet. Applying soil, incense ash, wood ash or other crude methods to the wound can make it more likely to cause illness.

In addition to possibly occurring after various traumas, it may also occur in women and newborns who give birth under unclean conditions, and after informal abortions. Otitis media, pressure sores, tooth extraction and intrauterine ring placement may all cause this disease. The number of drug addicts suffering from tetanus due to intravenous drug injection using unclean syringes is also on the rise.

The pathogenic bacterium is Clostridium tetani, which is an absolute anaerobe and Gram-stain positive. Both livestock and human feces can contain bacteria. After being excreted from the body, they are distributed in nature in the form of spores, especially in the soil, where they can survive for several years. This fungus has strong resistance to the environment and can withstand boiling for 15 to 90 minutes. Clostridium tetani produces a highly toxic exotoxin, the neurotoxin. After the toxin is produced, it does not cause inflammation locally, but spreads to the surrounding area, invades muscle tissue, and transmits upward in the opposite direction of the nerve impulse, eventually entering the motor nerve nucleus of the anterior horn of the spinal cord or the brainstem.

Although the contamination rate of traumatic wounds is very high, reaching 25% to 80% on the battlefield, the incidence of tetanus accounts for only 1% to 2% of the contaminated people, indicating that other factors must be present for the onset of the disease, the main factor being the hypoxic environment. In the event of trauma, Clostridium tetani can contaminate deep tissues (such as blind tube trauma, deep puncture wounds, etc.). If the wound opening is small, and there is necrotic tissue or blood clots inside the wound, or the wound is packed too tightly or there is local ischemia, an oxygen-deficient environment suitable for the growth and reproduction of the bacteria will be formed. If aerobic infection also exists, the latter will consume the residual oxygen in the wound, making the disease more likely to occur.