Tetanus Vaccine

Tetanus can be treated with antibiotics. Don't worry about her playing in the yard. When I was 12 years old I tripped and rammed a nail between my thumb and forefinger... gross I know.... but they gave me a tetanus shot because they thought I could develop tetanus based on the nail. DOES THAT MAKE SENSE? I could possibly have it so lets inject it in your body? That's about as much common sense as all vaccines are.... don't let your mom pressure you in to it. :)

Today I was sitting in a fully enclosed wooden gazebo at a Nature Center with my 16 month old. We were waiting outside while her older brother was participating in a class. She was sitting next to me on the bench with my arm wrapped around her. She decided she wanted to stand on the bench. She started standing up and suddenly I hear her cry out and say, "Ow!" Then I realized she had scraped her arm on the head of a rusty nail jutting out from the side of the gazebo. She hadn't been running around and fell on a nail or anything. She was just next to me, moved a little and scraped on the nail that I had failed to notice when we first sat down. Luckily she has had the DTaP vaccine. She probably wouldn't have caught tetanus, it isn't a deep punture wound, but it did scrape the skin. I did call the nurse and she said to just be on the look out for signs of infection and she should be okay since she has had the vaccine. I don't give all the vaccines, but have given DTap and glad I did to give me some peace of mind right now. Otherwise I'd probably be more freaked out since I am a worrier by nature.

No experience with it (we are not vaccinating at all either), but look into how many cases of tetanus are reported each year. For example, we just switched pediatrician's to a holistic one (they do vaccinate but on a more spread out schedule). My baby's Dr respects our decision, but we asked which ones she thought were important. She thinks the meningitis one is the most important and thinks people can skip polio (because there are no cases in North America anymore) So look into tetanus and how to protect your baby in the backyard. I mean, there are no rusty nails to pierce her skin, right? Do you know anyone who got tetanus as a kid? Moms are always extra cautious and your MIL is just concerned. My mom was over concerned about my home birth until it worked out fine. Good Luck.

I'd ask your pediatrician.--but I don't think there have been any problems with tetanus shots as with others that folks claim caused autism. I can't remember what shots my kids got when they were that little, but I have boys who were into everything and I know my pediatrician only advised me to give them what they needed. We discussed lots of things at the time. She was great about not forcing the issue--only if she felt it was really safeguarding them against something. I believe they had tetanus shots when younger because we lived near a park with a wooden play structure (with lots of nails) and when I mentioned that to her she advised the tetanus. Be forwarned, however, it does burn!! I know they recently had one (they are 16 and 13 now) because they do martial arts with metal weapons. They have been cut a few times and as these weapons are often just laid on the ground (if they practice outside), you never know what bacteria gets on them.

The tetanus vaccine is one of the oldest and has a very good safety record. Also tetanus isn't just on things like rusty nails, it's everywhere. But rusy metal is the most likely culpret. I spent some time living on a farm and it's so prevalent that most people get their horses vaccinated because it's just not worth the risk to have the infection start with a little scatch and go unnoticed until real treatment is needed.

The decision is of course up to you, but in my opinion the tetanus vaccine is one of the better ones.

One reason to give a tetanus shot is that we live in the Bay Area, an area likely to have a natural disaster. In Hurricane Katrina, there were dozens of deaths from tetanus. All preventable from a long-used, low-risk shot.

Re. skipping Polio. There was a polio outbreak in the US in 2005. Polio is currently endemic in 6 countries. The Polio virus stays alive in your system for weeks and weeks. Of all vaccines, inactivate polio is one of the most crucial.

The decision to not vaccinate is yours to make, but make sure to do thorough research. There is a lot of misleading anti-vaccine info out there. Please understand you are putting your children's and other children's lives on the line, and in some cases (like Measles and Rubella) unborn children's lives on the line. Exposing non-immune pregnant women to some vaccine preventable diseases can cause serious damage to their unborn children.

Tetanus is not as contagious as Diphtheria or Whooping cough (both of which are deadly), part of the DTaP shot. In the 1990s in the former soviet union, there were outbreaks and deaths from diphtheria. A school was closed in May in El Sobrante because of whooping caught.

A DTaP shot will giver your daughter the protection she deserves. It is so sad and unnecessary for children to die from vaccine preventable diseases in this day and age.