What is the chance of getting tetanus?!


Question:

What is the chance of getting tetanus?

after stepping in a rusty nail. I was previously immunized. However I havent had a booster in about 12-13 yrs. I stepped in an old rusty nail, got a small puncture wound (i had to remove the nail) it bled for about a minute. went 4 hours later and got a tetanus booster. Took antibiotics for 5 days afterwards. Foot shows no signs of infection. Its been 3 weeks and 3 days since the injury. (24 days) Its been about 2 weeks since i started noticing some mild cramping in my legs, stiff neck, and stiff jaw.

Wondering, what is the chance in this case of it actually being tetanus? Does the booster work right away since i was immunized previously (but it was past 10 yrs) Im thinking its been 2 weeks by now i should be dead. But im thinking it might be mild tetanus and it might get worse. I dont know if its my imagination. What should I do? what will the doctors be able to do, do a tissue culture?

In this case what is chance of tetanus? Reason im asking is

Additional Details

4 weeks ago
reason im askin is cuz im gettin symptoms of tetanus. i was at the er last week for non related issue i brought up tetanus and they didnt take it seriously, so im thinking if i go again they will just laugh it off again, what do i do, just wait until my jaw is completely locked

4 weeks ago
thanks everyone, i was concerned because the last shot i took was past 10 years, and i got the booster, but i was thinking since it was past 10 years it would not work right away, and the tetanus infection might have spread before the booster worked?

4 weeks ago
3rd answer states i might have mild symptoms of the infection, but what does this mean, that i actually have tetanus? or do i just have a few symptoms because of the antibodies? i dont really get it, because the tetanus booster which is tetanus toxoid is a dead bacteria, so it shouldnt cause any symptoms.


Answers:

With your previous history of no problems with a tetanus shot, and your tetanus booster, it's extremely unlikely that you could be dealing with tetanus. A booster triggers your immune system to begin producing antibodies immediately.

Tetanus starts from the neck (i.e., working its way down the spinal column), not up from the arms or legs. The average incubation time is 8 days; the maximum known incubation time is 21 days (very rare), so I'd say you're in the clear.




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