posted on 2023-07-26, 15:57authored byArlindo Muhelo, Ahivaldino Zita, Amir Seni, Danys Alvarez Arzuaga, Lee Smith, Damiano Pizzol, Yasmin Al Naber
In low-income countries tetanus is a major public health concern owing to a low immunization coverage and unclean birth practices.
Although it is a vaccine-preventable disease, tetanus can be contracted across the life course. The disease is prevalent and harmful
in newborn babies and their mothers when the mothers‘ are unvaccinated against tetanus. We report on a case of a 12-year-old girl
who presented with general malaise, anorexia, dysphagia, trismus and dehydration, which rapidly developed into severe generalized
tetanus and was successfully managed in a low-resource setting without the availability of human anti-tetanus immunoglobulins.