ABSTRACT
Effective immunisation programmes in HIC have eradicated the disease, whereas in low-income settings tetanus remains a significant cause of mortality aimed to eradicate maternal and neonatal tetanus by 2015 and, apart from 18 countries, this has been achieved. The spore-forming bacillus is found in the bowels of herbivorous animals and distributed in soil. Examples of tetanus prone wounds include those contaminated with manure, soil or rusty metal, via an umbilical cord cut with a non-sterile instrument, burns, frostbite, puncture wounds and high-velocity missile injuries. In cases of severe tetanus, critical care admission is appropriate; however, mortality rates can be high. F. Ajose and O. Odusanya reported mortality of 70% from generalised tetanus in one hospital in Nigeria. M. M. Muteya et al. reported tetanus accounted for 2.5% of all admissions and had a mortality of 52.4% within the tetanus cohort in critical care admissions in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
