Tetanus is a disease caused by a toxin-producing bacterium. In a spore form, the bacterium is harmless. However, the bacteria are most dangerous when they release toxin (poison) inside the human body. The bacteria spores are found in the intestines of farm animals as well as dust and soil mixed with their manure.
Tetanus is an acute, often fatal, disease caused by an exotoxin produced by the bacterium Clostridium tetani. It is characterized by generalized rigidity and convulsive spasms of skeletal muscles. The muscle stiffness usually involves the jaw (lockjaw) and neck and then becomes generalized.
Although records from antiquity (5th century BCE) contain clinical descriptions of tetanus, it was Carle and Rattone in 1884 who first produced tetanus in animals by injecting them with pus from a fatal human tetanus case. During the same year, Nicolaier produced tetanus in animals by injecting them with samples of soil. In 1889, Kitasato isolated the organism from a human victim, showed that it produced disease when injected into animals, and reported that the toxin could be neutralized by specific antibodies. In 1897, Nocard demonstrated the protective effect of passively transferred antitoxin, and passive immunization in humans was used for treatment and prophylaxis during World War I. A method for inactivating tetanus toxin with formaldehyde was developed by Ramon in the early 1920's which led to the development of tetanus toxoid by Descombey in 1924. It was first widely used during World War II.
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