Question: What are your thoughts on getting the tetanus vaccine? Are there any natural ways of treating tetanus?
Answer: This is a question that has come up many times over my years of medical practice. Parents have often asked my advice about tetanus prophylaxis for their children. As with other areas of medicine, I can lay out the issues, but it is difficult for me to say that there is only one way to handle this question.
First, the basic facts. Tetanus is the name we give to the illness that is caused by the toxin secreted by the bacteria Clostridium tetanii. This bacterium is an obligate anaerobe which means it can only live in the absence of oxygen. It is ubiquitous in the soil, and is widely distributed all over the world. When the bacteria enters the human body in a wound, and if the wound is devoid of oxygen (such as a puncture wound from a nail) then the bacteria can flourish inside the wound. If the wound is exposed to oxygen, which is what happens with common lacerations, then the tetanii bacteria will be unable to grow. If they grow, they eventually will produce a tetanus toxin (a poison) that selectively puts the skeletal muscles of humans into a tight spasm. The skeletal muscles include the major muscles of movement. The smooth muscle, such as the viscera (intestines) or the specialized muscle of the heart are unaffected by the tetanus toxin. As more and more of the toxin is produced, the affected person will eventually go into full body spasms and then develop “lockjaw” which is the dreaded outcome of a tetanus exposure as the jaws remain tightly clenched.
The mortality rate for an episode of full blown tetanus is high and in some studies upwards of 50 percent of the patients who contract tetanus will not survive. If one does survive, the tetanus toxin is eventually cleared from the body and no residual repercussions remain. The key point in this is that even though the tetanus toxin is made by a bacterium there usually is no significant infection at the site of the wound. In some cases, the doctors have actually been unable to locate any overt signs of infection at all, but somehow the bacteria had grown in the body and had made their toxin. Also, the symptoms of tetanus usually start about one week after exposure to the bacteria (from the wound) but can occur up to months following the incident. This makes it even more difficult to track down the infection or to be confident that any particular incident no longer presents a danger.
In the U.S., there are about fifty cases of tetanus per year; it is a much bigger problem in third world countries, especially among infants who can contract tetanus from the cutting of the umbilical cord with an unsterile instrument.
Conventional medicine offers two ways to deal with tetanus. The first and most common is to give people, usually children, a series of tetanus shots or vaccines. The vaccine contains a very small dose of the tetanus toxin and the theory is that the vaccine recipient will make antibodies that can neutralize the toxin if it should every occur as a result of infection. Usually an initial series of three shots is given at two, four and six months and then “boosters” at varying intervals thereafter.
The second method of dealing with tetanus is to wait until an exposure has occurred, or at least a likely exposure and then give what is called hypertet, which is serum containing the neutralizing antibodies. In this case, the recipient is not making antibodies himself; he is given them to neutralize the toxins that are already in his system.
Back when I was first practicing, hypertet (tetanus immune globulin) was made from collecting the serum of horses that were “hyperimmunized” with tetanus. The rate of severe anaphylactic reaction to this medicine was about 20 percent, with most of these reacting patients dying from the medicine. Luckily, I have never been in a situation that required me to give anyone this treatment and for that I have always been grateful.
Today, the hypertet is made from recombinant DNA, maybe not the greatest thing in the world, but it is nowhere near as lethal. Still, there have been numerous episodes of hypertet contaminated with various viruses so this preparation is also to be avoided if at all possible.
This then brings us to the bottom line: since we all want to avoid taking the hypertet, the real choice is whether to use the vaccine preventatively or do nothing except practice good wound care.
Regarding the vaccine, it is important to note that tetanus vaccinations are different from all the other vaccines. First, tetanus is unlike the other illnesses for which children are given vaccines. It is not a childhood illness, like pertussis or measles. It really isn’t even an infection, its more of poisoning, from poison made by bacteria. This means there is nothing good about getting tetanus, unlike the immune enhancement that comes about through the usual childhood illnesses.
Second, unlike the other vaccines, there is no cell-mediated immunity—white blood cells clearing the virus—with tetanus, because it is a poisoning, not an infection.
The bottom line here is that unlike all the other childhood illnesses, there is nothing good about having gone through tetanus or contracting tetanus; it is a fairly deadly poisoning which is best handled only by prevention. Thus, for a number of years, tetanus was the only vaccine I ever gave the children in my practice. I gave three shots, usually starting at about two years old and I never gave boosters. This was because of National Institutes of Health research, which claims that no one who has received all three shots for tetanus has contracting clinical tetanus. By the way, the vaccine does not contain thimerosol; however, there is no telling whether it contains other questionable ingredients.
During the last decade, however, there have been some counter arguments that have stayed my hand with regard to giving the tetanus vaccine and made the whole situation unsettled. First, it has become clear that the incidence of clinical tetanus dropped to a very low level even before routine vaccination was practiced in this country. Why this is no one knows, but it mirrors the pattern seen in the rest of the childhood illnesses. Second, there have been some published studies showing that having tetanus antibodies facilitates the penetration of unrelated viruses into the cells. One of the viruses mentioned was HIV, another was hepatitis C. The implication is that somehow having tetanus antibodies from the tetanus vaccine makes one susceptible to seemingly unrelated viral infections. The mechanism of this is obscure and as far as I know there has been no follow-up. I can’t find this original reference, but I distinctly remember a patient showing me the research in the early 1990s. This, plus the worry about the chemicals used to preserve the vaccine, make this a more difficult choice than it was in the early days.
A few other points are worth mentioning. One is that a number of patients over the years have told me they wanted to have only the tetanus vaccination but were told by their pediatrician that it was unavailable as a single vaccine. This is not true: any doctor can purchase plain tetanus toxoid from any of the major vaccine manufacturers. Second, there is no reason to get a booster tetanus shot after a wound if you have already been vaccinated. As I said, you are protected if you have had three vaccines at any time in your life, even fifty years ago. There is also no reason to give hypertet to anyone who has done the original series of three shots. And finally, even though there are worries about the vaccines, it is something that, given at the right time—certainly not at two months—in an otherwise healthy child is a fairly reasonable prevention strategy.
What if you get a puncture wound from a nail or a staple, have not had the vaccinations, and do not want to take the hypertet? Obviously scrupulous wound care is the first priority. In addition, it makes sense that super nutrition could help your body deal with the toxin should it take hold. That means extra cod liver oil, natural vitamin C, lacto-fermented foods and plenty of bone broths. Avoid stresses after the injury and get plenty of bed rest so your body can devote itself to dealing with the challenge.
TETANUS FOLLOWUP
I was excited to see an article by Dr. Thomas Cowan on tetanus (Fall, 2009). As a family doctor in New Zealand I have to work hard to get balanced information so that my patients can make informed decisions about vaccination.I found the article very good but with one concern.
Dr. Cowan states, “As I said, you are protected if you have had three vaccines at any time in your life, even fifty years ago.” He was referring to an earlier statement about National Institutes of Health research claiming no one who has received all three shots for tetanus has contracted clinical tetanus.
Reading the epidemiological study (www.medscape.com/medline/abstract/9665156), the findings actually indicate that 13 percent of cases of tetanus between 1995-1997 had reported that they had received the full primary series of tetanus vaccinations. Admittedly we are talking very small numbers here (roughly a one-in-fifty-million chance per year) and as a result, Dr. Cowan’s statements remain in essence true, especially as 9 percent of those 13 percent had had four or more vaccinations for tetanus—it seems as though those people were probably going to get tetanus no matter how much they were vaccinated. It might seem nit-picky but I believe that integrity and transparency are vital if we are to rise above the rhetoric and propaganda.
I have to mention that I greatly respect Dr. Cowan’s stand for health and get a great deal of value out of Wise Traditions. I am a staunch advocate of the WAPF philosophy and continue to try and influence my practice with its truisms. Many thanks indeed.
Dr. Mark Edmond, MB ChB
Christchurch, New Zealand
This article appeared in Wise Traditions in Food, Farming and the Healing Arts, the quarterly journal of the Weston A. Price Foundation, Fall 2009.
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Question
Hi, my daughter, who is 10 has only had one tetanus shot – and that was when she was about 5. I think I would like to get her fully vaccinated now, but am not sure if two additional shots would do the trick, and also how far apart they should be. Thank you very much for any feedback.
All tetanus shots are combined with diphtheria and pertussis.
the author states above that that is not true. Any doctor can order the toxin specific for tetanus in inoculation form. Go give it a read.
Article is 15 years old. The comment about the combined “vaccines” is 5 years old. Things change. See the MMR for instance, no longer separable.
“HIV” is not the causative agent in Aids. “HIV” has never been isolated. Furthermore, no virus has ever been isolated or photographed. All photographs purporting to be a Virus show nothing but dead cellular material and proteins. I wish Weston Price and it’s contributers would be more informed about this. There are 2600 scientists, including Noebel Laureates, who are claiming the same. “HIV” is non existent. Robert Gallo and the NIH and CDC are criminals.
Yes!
Can you share some resources on this please. I’ve never heard avout it and would like to read up
tetnus
hi,
i recently split my knee wide open and my last tetnus was in 2005 and the urgent care said i needed a tetnus AGAIN! 2 months ago i purchased the fourfold path to healing and nourishing traditions which has woken me up to a new way to health which is why i have great concerns about taking the tetnus. by the way,i also contracted fever and some sort of virus. any thoughts or comments about this would be greatly appreciated
Hi Lisa Cates,
It looks like this was a while ago now. Hope you healed up ok! It seems that as the wound was wide open that the bacterium would not have had a chance to grow… The article explains that tetanus spores are killed upon contact with oxygen. Hope that helps!
Tetanus Schedule for Children
So, what is the recommended tetanus schedule for children. My daughter was fully vaccinated through age 4. I have not given her any boosters. How should I proceed from here with tetanus? Does she need any additional tetanus shots and if so, when should I have them given?
Mom
Why does the CDC require a 5 series of TIG? My almost 4 yr old son, stepped on a rusty nail and had a shot of TIG. Can;t we now just keep the wound super clean and oxygenate it to help it stay clean and heal? Why more TIG after the fact?
Please help. My husband and I DO NOT AGREE ON THIS AT ALL!
I Recently was punctured by a rust nail……….and i later discorvered from my peers that(manualy) Titanus can be Killed by droping hot palm-oil(Red-Oil) to the affected area. Normally in 2 days.
Another Implementative is to take 2 tablets of Cod-liver Oil.
1 Tablet Should be taken in the Morning(With Full-Nutrition of Beans).
And in the Evening,(with Full-Nutrition of any Starchy Food. E.g Yam, or rice.).
Note that this Method will Open/Extend the Punctured Area for Treatment(allowing the Passage of Oxygen). Thus; the Affected Victim would go Through Severe Pain During mid-day. Before the Pains Start, It is Holisticaly Exhorted to Take 2 Pills Of any Pain-Relieving Drug(Usually Containing Paracetamol). This Will Mitigate The Full Effect of the Pain.
Afterwards,………… The Victim should Sleep for 4-6 Hours. This will Give the the Body ample(Full) Time to work on the Wound.
Therefore, Sleep should be a regulation.
If you induct this Method, The Titanus Bacteria should Disappear within 2-4days.
Because the patient will be dead.
LMBO
I need to know…
I stepped on a rusty nail when I was five and got vaccinated once after the fact. I always had cramps through my feet and then into my legs and then at 17 years old I noticed my whole lower back becoming tight for no reason. That was when I thought something was strange. I would stretch an entire day just to get rid of the pain and then Id be fine for a week but then it would come back.
Im now 24 and my entire body is in severe pain. Its been seven years and its only been getting worse. I think this somehow is tetanus. Its not bone breaking spasms but the one position that I feel to be in is exactly like all the pictures I see of guys with their necks and backs bent back. If I tense up really hard like that then I can breathe a little better after I come out of it.
What in the world should I be doing about this instead? Im trying to beat this with good food and vitamin c but is there some legitimate treatment I can take?
Im holistic I guess. I dont like the sound of the globulin and frankly I am beating it as long as I eat enough but after researching it and found out that it can turn into bone breaking spasms I thought I should ask.
Thanks for any help.
Look into BodyTalk. Your body suffered a trauma and hasn’t let go of it. It is form of energy therapy that helps your body to heal itself. You can find a practitioner near you through the bodytalk website.
I was going to say – find a highly trained Craniosacral therapist.
Look into vitamin deficiency specifically magnesium
You might also try constitutional care from a classical homeopath.
To Me(as a Scientist),……Tetanus Should Never be Joked with. The Only Palable advice is to Consult A Doctor/Pharmacist. If…………however, it tends Untreated,………..ALL YOUR BODY COULD BE STIFFED.
Can this person’s comments please be deleted? They contradict each other and are perhaps just written by a troll.
Hello! My son is going to be 3 pretty soon and I was thinking about going through the tetanus round of vaccinations but my pediatrician says that tetanus only comes in the DTaP or DT..he said there is no such thing as just tetanus anymore. Is there somewhere you can direct me so that I can direct him to buying just the tetanus vaccination please?
Thank you so much!
Your pediatrician is BSing you. He knows full where & what to buy. They get extra money for pushing more vaccines. It’s all a money game for them. Pediatricians are the WORST.
My grandson who has not been vaccinated was found to have low levels of tetanus – he has had symptoms of fever and muscle aches that come and go. The docs have him on ptrdnizone and with this finding, want to treat this with the tetanus vaccine. How can this be healed?
Unsure if this applies to this situation – Our very young grandson had monthy fevers like clockwork & would say his legs hurt a few times week. It was diagnosed as pfapa. (The other symptoms didn’t appear.) We eventually found activity spaced the fevers.
Tetanus is from puncture wounds that don’t get exposure to oxygen? Why not try oxygen therapy? Oh, they knew about this in the 1960’s as a quick google search reveals: http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/1164108
Why not try any number of other oxygen therapies, besides hyperbaric oxygen? Why not try IV oxygen? Why not try H2O2 therapy? Why not try oxygenating iodine? Why not try oxygenating DMSO sulfur? Oh that’s right, only 50 cases a year. Not even enough to experiment on with therapies that should work.
Selling prevention to 330 million people is far more lucrative than actual cures.
Funny thing though. Puncture wound? Isn’t a vaccine a puncture wound? Isn’t lockjaw and tetanus claimed as side effects from vaccines from the very beginning? Yes, they are!
The number one side effect that is compensated for all vaccines is paralysis, termed “Guillain Barre” and from the flu shot.
I appreciate your knowledge. Thank you for taking the time to inform.
Thank you for waking people up!
I am a Dr who has spent quite a bit of time in 3rd world countries. Most of the time hyperbaric chambers are not available but low pressure so called hyperbaric does not work. It requires a t least 5 sessions of at least one ATO but it can also be treated with IV H2O2 or ozone (crystal electrodes ideally) followed by Iv Vitamin C with B complex and magnesium chloride (if required by blood pressure readings Calcium chloride is also added) Generally this treatment is done for a week at least. If muscle spasms or other symptoms increase, it is important to use higher doses or add HBOT if it is available. Please note I am not from USA or trained in USA.
I’m wondering if Dr. Tom has any suggested homeopathy and what are his views on the nosode?
Thank you!
My 1.5 year old will be getting his tetanus at his next checkup (2 years old). We live in the country so opted for this. Where can our pediatrician find the tetanus alone? Right now its combined as a DTP and I dont want the D or P. From the article, I think its possible but from talking to the pediatrician its not. So far we’ve avoided all vaccinations.
An interesting bit of research i did.
Are you saying youve seen someone die of tetnus? That was rarer than being struck by lightning before the vaccine came out. (IN CANADA) gosh even catching tetnus was rarer than being struck by lightning
(25$ if its the TD shot 65$ if its the TDap shot)
ALSO NOTE the medical industry makes 25$ if you lack insurance per shot and likely more per shot if you have insurance. You get 3 tetanus shots by CDC law. There are 325 million people. 3 * 325,000,000 * 25 = 24,375,000,000$ profit for a disease that can be treated with oxygen therapy or by cleaning the wound if its shallow.
Oh did i mention that even if you had the 3 rounds of tetanus shots you can still catch tetanus?
Prior to vaccination death rates of tetanus were plummeting like every other disease. IN THE UK A 100ish people died of it in a population of 46 million in 1939. So more likely to be struck by lightning still. And you can just take antibiotics and kill the tetanus. Or use some form of oxygen therapy. Hell in one study they found vitamin c stopped tetanus.
GEESUS You could ingest 5 grams of vitamin c and cure your tetanus according to that study. 1 gram of intravenous vitamin c reduced the mortality rate by 100%. If you have read into vitamin c therapy at all you could take 5 grams of vitamin c multiple times a day if you think you even got tetanus from your wound and you dont have that anymore. Boom a 24 billion dollar industry destroyed.
References
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18425960
-http://www.wrha.mb.ca/…/imm…/files/03_DiseaseSummary.pdf
–
https://www.redcross.ca/blog/2010/7/what-are-the-odds
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https://health.costhelper.com/td-vaccine.html
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http://vaxinfostarthere.com/did-vaccines-save-us/
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https://jamanetwork.com/jou…/jama/article-abstract/1164108
Yes. Thank you.
Funny how the chap who wrote this article didn’t mention this IV vitamin C study. Seems like he’s still seeped in the traditional medicine mindset.
Please note this study states that vitamin c was delivered *alongside* traditional care. Which involves the vaccine and the anti serum. Not in place of traditional care.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts Manoj. As Dr. Edmond relates, tetanus is a whole other animal in the realm of diseases and infections. He does mention C, though not IV in particular. That said, we must understand that with tetanus we simply can not assume that anything in our usual toolbox of remedies will be effective for this poison. Thus, even those of us in the “natural” realm of healing and health-giving modalities proceed with much caution in this regard.
Hello!
Really great and informative article. I am wondering if you have a link to the NIH article that states no one who has received 3 tetanus vaccines has ever gotten tetanus. I have read this before and would really like to see the source myself. I was telling my naturopath about your article and was hoping to provide her the NIH article.
Thanks so much!
A relation died of Tetanus in the 40s after a fall in the dairy knocked her unconscious.
She never regained consciousness and wasn’t taken to hospital for six days.
I heard of another similar example caused by skylarking in racing stables from the same era.
My understanding was that the bacteria lived in the guts of horses and could stay dormant in the soil for decades, and victims tended to be in a very poor way from head injury before Tetanus could take hold.
Apisai Toga was a Fijian Rugby League player for the St.George Club when he died of Tetanus following injuries in a match around 1972.
I love and hope the WPO and Mr. Cowan, the author, from whom I am very appreciative of this advice, realize that this article just does not contain the sufficient information necessary to act on its recommendations in any reliable way. Doctors are indeed telling their patients that the plain tetanus toxoid does not exist. It seems to me this is because most Monovalent Tetanus Toxoid (TT) vaccines are suggested for children ages 7 or older. So by asking our doctor to provide this to our children younger then 7 we are asking them to ignore the product’s labeled recommendations, which they are unlikely to do. Can the author share their advice for the exact words and/or information to communicate to our doctor to help them feel comfortable supporting which will undoubtedly be perceived as an unusual and potentially risky request?
So grateful for this article (and all the work of the Weston A. Price Foundation). I found it when I was sitting in the emergency room needing stitches for a deep flesh wound. One after another the aids and nurses told me I needed a DPT injection. I was skeptical. Reading this article I recognized that my risk of getting tetanus was so low as to be negligible and in no way justified injecting a cocktail of toxins, organisms, chemicals and aluminum into my body. Was able to confidently decline the medical treatment I was being pressured to receive. Thank you, Dr. Cowan, Dr. Edmond, and the WAP Foundation.
Recent case report regarding this issue.(2021)
Dysautonomia Following Tetanus, Diphtheria, and Pertussis Vaccine (Tdap): The First Case of Extreme Cachexia Caused by Autoimmune/Inflammatory Syndrome Induced by Adjuvants (ASIA Syndrome) in a Human
Or Hen 1, Paula David 1,2 and Yehuda Shoenfeld 1,3,*
https://childrenshealthdefense.org/wp-content/uploads/Dysautonomia-Following-Tetanus-Diphtheria-and-Pertussis-Vaccine-Tdap-The-First-Case-of-Extreme-Cachexia-Caused-by-Autoimmune-Inflammatory-Syndrome-Induced-by-Adjuvants-ASIA-Syndrome-in-a-Human.pdf
Thankyou for this article, and the comments section has been informative too.
I am currently waiting to see if a puncture wound from a rusty nail 8 days ago will develop any tetanus symptoms. It feels a little bit like waiting on a death sentence judgement.
The complication is that, from the same day as the puncture, I have had a very heavy migraine (a typhoon came through, dropping air pressure, inducing this bloody migraine), which as some people will know, can cause all sorts of ‘bodily sensations’ other than headache.
I am experiencing some ‘heat’ from time to time in the leg in question, but nothing serious.
I did opt for 4 days of antibiotics – I am not anti medicine if it will actually increase my chances of survival – am unvaccinated, and have appreciated the advice on Vit C which I will start on today.
Hoping all will turn out ok.
Hi, wondering how you’re doing now? Did you do the high dose vitamin c? My 11 yo son had a rusty nail go through a pinky toe. He was fully vaxed as a young kid. It’s been 7 days on the antibiotic. Last night he had stomach cramps and ended up throwing up. Then it dawned on me he’s been mentioning his foot falling asleep a lot. I’m super paranoid now.
How’s your son?