tetanus
Noun
Meaning
A painful and usually fatal disease, resulting generally from a wound, and having as its principal symptom persistent spasm of the voluntary muscles. When the muscles of the lower jaw are affected, it is called locked-jaw, or lickjaw, and it takes various names from the various incurvations of the body resulting from the spasm.
That condition of a muscle in which it is in a state of continued vibratory contraction, as when stimulated by a series of induction shocks.
Source: Webster's dictionarySynonyms
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Examples
As a child, I was more afraid of tetanus shots than, for example, Dracula.
• Ages 4-6: Diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough (pertussis), also known as DTaP.
Besides recommendations for infant vaccinations and boosters, many specific vaccines are recommended at other ages or for repeated injections throughout life—most commonly for measles, tetanus, influenza, and pneumonia.
As of 1998 neonatal tetanus was common in many developing countries and was responsible for about 14% (215,000) of all neonatal deaths. citation In 2010 the worldwide death toll was 58,000 newborns.
Cephalic tetanus is more likely than other forms of tetanus to be fatal, with the progression to generalized tetanus carrying a 15–30% case fatality rate.
Due to its rarity, clinicians may be unfamiliar with the clinical presentation and may not suspect tetanus as the illness.