These symptoms of tetanus in humans allow him to diagnose

Fortunately, tetanus has become a rare disease, but its causative agent is found everywhere, and so is the risk of Contracting them. It is therefore important to know the early symptoms of tetanus, and to know how to react to their appearance.


One of the challenges of this disease – long incubation period. From the moment of infection before occurrence of first signs can pass from several days to months. On average, the incubation period is 10-14 days. Often people even forget that a few weeks ago it hurt in the garden, and when symptoms of tetanus, can't even tie between these events.

Tetanus symptoms in humans

The second difficulty is the dependence of the severity of the disease on the duration of the incubation period. And the doctor to make a prognosis and to choose the right treatment, you need to know when it was infected.

What happens when infected with tetanus?

Pathogen (tetanus bacteria) enters the body through broken skin and mucous membranes. Most dangerous in this respect, deep puncture, pocket wounds, frostbite and burns, which creates favorable conditions for anaerobic microorganism. Its spores are present in large numbers in soil and animal droppings, dust and contaminated water.

Tetanus exotoxin is considered the second force and the danger of bacterial poison, second only to botulinum toxin.

After infection in the wound, it begins the bacteria. During the incubation period they did not show, but actively proliferate and produce endotoxin. Nerve fibers it penetrates into the spinal cord, at least – the brain. Related so the toxin is not excreted and accumulates, disrupting nerve cells. Develops paralysis of neuronal inserted, increases the throughput – these changes and cause symptoms of tetanus in humans.

The first symptoms of tetanus

As a rule, this disease manifests always acute, but in some cases patients pay attention at first, vague and nonspecific signs:

  • Muscle twitching, located near the site of infection.
  • Headaches, irritability.
  • General malaise.

As a rule, they quickly develop into more obvious signs. But because of nespecificnomu few people pay attention to them. But if a few weeks ago there was an episode with a potential tetanus infection, you need to respond at this stage.

Sometimes in the early stages there is the tension and even spasm of the muscles of the neck and nape. This symptom is typical not only for tetanus but also for the whole set of neurological diseases accompanied by brain damage, convulsions and muscle tension. Suspect tetanus allows no other meningeal signs accompanied by this condition.

The main symptoms of tetanus

A few days after the first symptoms, or even without them, there is already a clearer picture of the infection:

  • «Sardonic smile.» Due to the characteristic muscle tension in the face there is the face: the forehead wrinkled, stretched lips with drooping corners, narrowed eyes.
  • Lockjaw. Due to the compression of the masticatory muscles of an infected person, it would be hard to open mouth fully.
  • Dysphagia. The muscles of the pharynx also among the first to react to the presence of the toxin. This is expressed in their convulsive grip, due to which swallowing becomes difficult or painful.
These signs are characteristic of early stages of tetanus, and allow to diagnose it with high accuracy. Remember they should and laymen, as to the effectiveness of treatment largely depends on how much time has passed since the beginning of the treatment.

Additional symptoms of tetanus

After the onset of illness and the appearance of the first three characteristics in adults and children develops a whole range of symptoms:

  • Tension of muscles of hands and feet, not affecting the feet and hands. Muscles are constantly tense and can't relax even during sleep.
  • Pain in the wound, where infection has penetrated. It's not even important, it has healed to this point or not.
  • Due to the tension, all the muscles are clearly drawn, especially well visible outlines of skeletal muscles.
  • The strong tension of the abdominal muscles.
  • The legs are stretched, elongated.
  • When the process involves the intercostal muscles, interferes with the normal breathing. It becomes superficial andmore frequent.
  • Violation of urination and defecation due to tense muscles.
  • Appears apitonus – state, when in a posture lying man arching arc, so that touch points be the buttocks and the back of the head.

The constant tension in the muscles develop cramps. Seizures can last a few minutes and develop from 2-3 to more than 10 times a day.

An important indicator is the time elapsed since the appearance of the "sardonic smile" and before the development of seizures. If it is less than two days, it significantly worsens the prognosis.

Convulsions seize the whole body of the man, except for the eye muscles (one of the characteristic signs of tetanus). They last usually 1-3 minutes and the result of visual, acoustic or other stimuli.

Late signs include severe pain, tachycardia, shortness of breath, profuse sweating, insomnia.

The period from 7 to 14 a day since the beginning of the disease is very difficult. Due to cramps and spasm of the muscles increases the likelihood of asphyxia and paralysis of the heart leading to death. At the end of this period the symptoms gradually subside, but the period of full recovery can take up to 2 months.

Atypical forms and their manifestation

The typical form of the disease described above is called generalized tetanus. But there are some more rare:

  • Local. The disease captures only the area directly adjacent to the wound. For light, restricted by the local muscle strain and spasms. Rare. Private event – facial tetanus.
  • Ascending. Appears twitching and spasms at the site of application of a wound, for example, in the leg. But gradually the toxins strike the spinal cord, rising higher until we develop the classic signs of generalized tetanus.
  • Bulbar, head tetanus Brunner. Extremely severe form, in which the infection starts from the upper parts of the spinal cord and quickly grabs the medulla oblongata. Affects primarily the muscles of the face, neck, chest. The outcome in most cases lethal.
These are extremely rare, so for the initial diagnosis, it is sufficient to focus on the characteristic triad of signs of generalized tetanus.

The symptoms of neonatal tetanus

One of the most difficult and dangerous form is neonatal tetanus. Most often it appears in children born out of hospital, living in conditions with poor hygiene, without complying with elementary principles of antiseptics.

The body tetanus bacteria enters through the umbilical wound. The first signs appear on the second or third week of life. Initially, the disease can manifest just high anxiety and frequent crying child.

Later there is a lockjaw. Due to the tension of the facial muscles the baby can't open mouth, problems with sucking, later it becomes impossible. Then there are other signs: "sardonic smile", muscle spasm, arching of the back, fever, convulsions.

The disease is more severe than in adults, and in most cases ends with the death of a child. However, there is a chance of recovery, but they depend on how much time passed from the onset of disease to seeking medical attention.

Fortunately, active immunization worldwide, reducing out-of-hospital delivery and adherence to basic principles of hygiene has made this disease extremely rare.

Diagnosis and differential diagnosis

Diagnosis of tetanus in most cases is not a difficulty for a qualified doctor. The typical triad of symptoms quite clearly identifies the disease.

Most often diagnosis is to medical history. The doctor ascertain whether a person has wounds, burns, frostbite, and other disorders of skin integrity, instilled it and if Yes, when were there early warning signs like pain in the wound or muscle twitching. If a picture is characteristic for tetanus, treatment starts immediately.

Laboratory diagnosis is rarely done because of the length of the result. Sometimes doing the bacterial analysis of samples with mucous membranes and wound surfaces, as well as biological research on mice.

Tetanus must be differentiated from epilepsy, strychnine poisoning, meningitis, encephalitis, consequences of cranial injuries. But these conditions have different symptoms and characteristics, so in most cases, significant difficulties it causes.

Tetanus – a serious and dangerous disease. From the time when symptoms appeared, the probability of a lethal outcome, therefore, in developed countries, doctors insist on regular vaccinations not only for children but also for adults. If for some reason they were not made or expired immunization, any wound recommend for emergency prevention of the introduction of immunoglobulin.

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