How does tetanus develop: the first symptoms and consequences

Tetanus is a serious infectious disease. It is caused by exotoxins, which are secreted by the tetanus bacillus. It lives in the soil, in the intestines of animals and humans, in domestic dust and, getting into a wound on the skin or mucous surface, leads to a violation of the functions of the central nervous system.

How does tetanus develop?

Symptoms (their photos you can see in the article) appear after the incubation period, which lasts about two weeks. But there are cases when the development of the disease occurred in just a few hours or lasted long - up to 50 days.

At this time, bacteria enter the nutrient medium and actively propagate them. This process is accompanied by the release of toxin, the presence of which, incidentally, can give a headache and sweating. There may also be signs of insomnia and irritability.

It is necessary to know that the shorter the incubation period of tetanus, the more severely the disease itself is as a rule.

Tetanus: the first symptoms

The initial period of tetanus is expressed in the appearance of dull drawing pains around the wound, the chewing muscles are strained, and periodic triisms (convulsive contractions) appear in them. The presence of these signs should alert the patient and make him suspect a tetanus.

The first symptoms are also manifested in soreness and stiffness of movements in the back, abdomen and lower jaw. The process of swallowing is difficult, the patient is hard to open his mouth, and facial muscles are convulsively contracted, causing a painful smile on his face. The forehead wrinkles, and the eye cracks become narrow. The patient raises the temperature, sweating is observed.

The height of the disease:

• The tension of the occipital muscles increases, which causes difficulties with the inclination of the head forward, and then it even tilts back.
• Reducing the muscles of the back causes the arching of the spine.
• The muscles of the abdomen become hard at this time, like a board.
• If the process also affects the limbs, the patient's body takes the form of a pillar, which, incidentally, was called the disease.

As the pathology develops, tetanic cramps increase and increase, which last from a few seconds to five minutes. They are very painful. There have been cases in which patients recorded more than a hundred seizures per day,

Often, they lead to a dangerous violation of the breathing process, which is different from tetanus: the first symptoms of the disease flow into convulsions, covering even the diaphragm. By the way, any, even the weakest external stimulus can cause them in the patient: touch, light, whiff, sound, etc.

What is the danger of tetanus?

How will tetanus proceed in its active phase, the first symptoms of which we are considering, depends to a large extent on the timeliness of the patient's treatment for medical care. It is important whether the patient was vaccinated at one time, and how badly his skin is damaged.

Tetanus can cause confusion in the patient, hallucinations and delusions. All of the above can also be exacerbated by cyanosis, asphyxia, apnea, disorders of urination and circulation. The rapidly developing spasm of motor muscles and muscle paralysis in the heart, myocardial infarction, pneumonia, embolism, sepsis and the like pathologies can lead to the death of the patient.

To summarize, I want to repeat: remember what symptoms of tetanus can clearly indicate the presence of the disease, and urgently seek medical help, which in this case depends life!