Symptoms

Symptoms of tetanus disease usually start with a sore, stiff jaw and neck, and difficulty swallowing.

Other symptoms can happen as the disease gets worse, including:

• stiffness of the muscles in the arms, stomach, and legs
• very painful muscle spasms

Sometimes the muscle spasms are so severe that they can result in broken bones, and even lead to seizures and death.

Vaccine

Tetanus can be prevented by getting a vaccine. Common vaccines that protect against tetanus are:

• Tdap (previously called dTap)
• Tdap-IPV (previously called dTap-IPV)
• DTaP-IPV-Hib
• DTaP-IPV-Hib-HB

The type of tetanus vaccine you get depends on your age and if you need protection from other diseases.

You will need a tetanus vaccine as soon as possible if you have a dirty cut, wound, or burn and 5 or more years have passed since your last tetanus vaccine.

Tetanus/Diphtheria (Td) vaccine

The Td vaccine protects against tetanus and diphtheria. Td vaccine is no longer available in Alberta. It used to be given to adults who needed this protection because they didn't have their childhood immunizations or because they needed an extra (booster) dose. The Tdap vaccine is now given for this.

Tetanus immune globulin (TIG)

If you get a cut or wound that is likely to have tetanus bacteria, and you haven’t had at least 3 doses of a tetanus vaccine, you may get tetanus immune globulin for fast protection and to help prevent tetanus disease.

Immune globulins give quick, short-term protection. For long-term protection, you need a vaccine.

Learn more about tetanus immune globulin.