
Health Topics A-Z | 2007 Archive | 2006 Archive | 2005 Archive | 2004 Archive | 2003 Archive
A R T I C L E |
D A T E |
| Aphasia: Finding the Words |
10-01-2008 |
| Pop Quiz! Heart tests on young athletes coming to schools this fall |
05-28-2008 |
| The Woman's Heart - Part Two | 02-08-2008 |
| Polycystic Ovary Syndrome When a rite of passage takes a wrong turn |
05-23-2007 |
| Home Coming Guide to stroke survivor home care |
03-21-2007 |
| The Way We Were How to be a caregiver and still be a couple after a stroke |
03-21-2007 |
| The Woman's Heart: Part Two New heart health guidelines and a trip to the ER proved to one woman that she—and her heart were now being taken seriously |
02-22-2007 |
| The Woman's Heart: Part One It may break the same but it doesn't ache the same |
02-14-2007 |
| After-Bite We hear about those who die from West Nile Virus. We hear about those who get well. But, we don’t hear much about the one percent who live with it. Long term. |
10-11-2006 |
| Understanding Sudden Death in Teen Athletes | 10-04-2006 |
| Lab Tests 101 | 09-20-2006 |
| Can't Outrun the Gene But, family members at risk for abdominal aortic aneurysm may be able to head off disaster before it strikes thanks to genetic research |
09-06-2006 |
| Heartfelt Stress | 07-12-2006 |
| The Sweet and Sour Sugar Substitute Suspicions |
04-07-2006 |
| The Power of Words | 03-30-2006 |
| Home is Where the Heart (defibrillator) Lives... Experts weigh in on home external heart defibrillators |
02-13-2006 |
| Sideways to Health... Does Red Wine Really Help? |
12-28-2005 |
| Lower, Lower, Lower Stricter Guidelines for Cholesterol |
08-11-2005 |
| Aspirin: a humble miracle worker |
06-15-2005 |
| New Attack on Heart Attack Cardiologists, paramedics and ERs embark on a special research mission to save your life. |
02-15-2005 |
| Awakenings: The most dangerous time of the day...is the start of it. |
11-11-2004 |
| Blood Pressure 101 Part Two |
08-31-2004 |
| Blood Pressure 101 Part One |
08-26-2004 |
| Do the Math: The New Cholesterol Numbers |
08-23-2004 |
| Guess Who Has High Blood Pressure? Our Children |
08-05-2004 |
| Erectile
Dysfunction A distress signal from a whole ‘nuther part of the body |
07-12-2004 |
| Can Migraine Really Cause Stroke? The Debate Begins |
04-12-2004 |
| High Blood Pressure And West Nile Virus What You Need to Know |
04-05-2004 |
| Pumped Up Stroke patients gain mobility, calm spasms with new device |
01-15-2004 |
| T.I.A. (mini-strokes): The Wake-Up Call for Your Brain |
07-24-2003 |
| Constraint Leads to Freedom Increasing Mobility for Stroke Patients |
05-19-2003 |
| The Flu Shot: Hidden Heart Protector |
05-12-2003 |
Tetanus booster for adults
Tetanus does not result from the rusty nail or whatever created the wound. The danger lies in the bacteria Clostridium tetani that lives in the soil or manure on that nail or gardening tool. When these spores get into a wound—deep or shallow—they can produce a potent toxin. Also called lockjaw, tetanus seriously affects the central nervous system and can be fatal.
Onset of symptoms can occur anytime from three days to three weeks. Call your health care provider if you have an open wound, particularly if:
Adults should have a tetanus booster shot every 10 years, known as the Td vaccine. It is a "2-in-1" vaccine that protects against tetanus and diphtheria. It contains a slightly different dose of diphtheria vaccine than what you received as a child. It can be given to anyone older than 7 years and is injected, usually into the arm.
Instead of the standard Td booster every 10 years, adults between the ages of 19 and 65 should receive Tdap one time in their adulthood to boost the immune system for pertussis, as well as tetanus and diphtheria.
Diphtheria, a contagious bacterial infection created that causes severe inflammation of the throat and larynx and can also affect the whole body. Pertussis or “whooping cough” is a serious bacterial infection that afflicted children and infants before vaccines were available. Adults may be infected later in life as their immunities wane. Neither of these infections are related to tetanus, but both vaccines are compatible and convenient to use with the tetanus booster.