That’s how long it takes tetanus antibodies to form after receiving a tetanus shot.
Tomorrow I will be going to get a tetanus shot. Yesterday, I cut my hand and arm on ancient and muck-coated rusty fence wire. This morning, as I looked at a cut on my hand and noticed that it was all puffed up and hurt like hell, I suddenly realized that it’s probably been more than ten years since I had a tetanus shot. And a tetanus shot received after a wound isn’t guaranteed protection against fatal tetanus.
“Not good,” thinks I. “Isaac Bouchie,” thinks I. Except that poor Isaac contracted and died from tetanus (called trismus by his doctors) in the days before tetanus shots. Amazing how many things we can treat now that would simply kill you “back then.” Of course, things like tetanus shots only work if you’re smart enough to keep up with having them when you’re supposed to. And I, obviously, am dumber than dirt.
The incubation period for tetanus (actually tetanospasmin, a neurotoxin produced by the Gram-positive, obligate anaerobic bacterium Clostridium tetani) is 3 to 21 days. Isaac was dead in eleven days.
I should be watching for a persistent contraction of muscles in the same area as the injury (right hand and arm). Or I should watch for lockjaw, followed by stiffness of the neck, difficulty swallowing, and rigidity of abdominal muscles. Plus elevated temperature, sweating, elevated blood pressure, and rapid heart rate. And spasms.
There’s no way to end this post on a humorous note. So I won’t.
