Hi Roger,
Sympathy for your situation!!!
When we had a similar situation here in years past, I chose not to, based on information given (I'll attach some here), but that is with reference to the US, so you'd also need to consider conditions where you are. (That said, could tetanus *ever* be transferred by "two light bites"?? I'm taught that the tetanus "bug" is extremely fragile, and can't survive any reasonable exposure to air and/or soap; puncture wounds would be more the risk.)
See if this helps (I especially found Will Taylor's info useful!!):
---------------------------
Date: Wed, 15 Apr 1998 12:04:10 -0400
To: "
homeopathy@lyghtforce.com " >
From: will taylor >
Worldwide, there are an estimated 300,000 - 500,000 cases of tetanus per year. The tetanus bacillus survives best in soil rich with organic matter in hot, damp climates, and is more prevalent in densely populated regions. It is rare in polar regions and relatively uncommon in the northern temperate zones.
There are less than 100 documented cases of tetanus in the U.S. annually. The majority of U.S. cases are in persons over 50, and only 5% of U.S. cases are in persons under 20 years old (i.e., there are less than 5 cases per year in children and adolescents in the U.S.). The highest incidence in the U.S. is among the poor in the southern states. Necrotic skin ulcers, burns, surgical wounds and IV drug use may create anaerobic lesions that invite a disproportionate number of tetanus cases; but it may also complicate simple lacerations and puncture wounds, dental infection, otitis media, miscarriage and abortion, and infection of the umbilical stump of newborns.
In the years just prior to widespread vaccination, there were approx. 500 tetanus cases in the U.S. per year. Some of the subsequent decrease can be attributed to vaccination, and some to reduced exposure and continued improvements in wound care. About 87% of U.S. children have received a primary series of tetanus vaccination, and temporary immunity is confered transplacentally to newborns from vaccine-immune mothers. Adults often do not receive the CDC (U.S. Centers for Disease Control) recommended tetanus booster vaccinations, and 1/3 to 2/3 of adults 60 or older lack circulating tetanus antitoxin antibody.
The case-fatality rate of tetanus world-wide is 45%, and in the U.S. is about 30% for persons over 50, and less than 5% in persons under 50. When symptoms occur within 2-3 days of injury, the mortality rate nears 100%. In 20% of morbid cases, death is attributable to the the direct effects of tetanus toxin, through cardiovascular and pulmonary events. Pneumonia related to aspiration and atelectasis is a common late complication, and is the major immediate cause of mortality following tetanus. Most survivors recover completely within 4 weeks. Natural infection typically does not confer immunity.
Conventional medical management of tetanus will reflect the severity of the case, but involves both conservative/supportive measures that even Hahnemann or Ernest Farrington would not frown at, including intensive-care-unit nursing and observation, debridement & drainage of the originating wound, IV fluid & electrolyte management, avoidance of respiratory secretion aspiration, tracheostomy in more severe cases and bedside preparation for this in milder cases. I think it's important to realize that conventional medical care in most parts of the world monopolizes access to this level of supportive care, with the allopathy as a side-dish. In addition to these supportive measures, allopathic pharmacologic management involves administration of human or equine tetanus immune globulin, mild sedation and pharmacologic management of muscle spasm. These measures do reduce the case-fatality ratio.
Those less-than-100 cases per year (happily) don't give many of us experience with this illness. I've seen only one case, in a burn-unit patient, way back in my residency days. Even back when there were 500 cases/year in the U.S., and in regions where this is a more prevalent disease, it is unlikely that any individual will accumulate any real experience in treating it.
Read the Materia Medica on Ledum and on Hypericum in J.T. Kent, M.L. Tyler, and J.H. Clarke. I don't find in the literature a plethora of cured tetanus cases, but there is mention of a few. An anamnesis of the collective pathological symptoms of tetanus certainly does bring up Ledum and Hypericum as front-runners in the treatment of individual cases of this disease. I would be hesitant to tackle it without recourse to the supportive measures of hospital managment.
Will Taylor, MD Homoeopathy Website at:
on old browsers
Luise wrote...
Will wrote..
Absolutely! Heck, there are only something like 5 cases of tetanus per
year in the entire U.S., and the major risk factors are IV drug use, major
burns, and stasis ulcers in the elderly. I only saw 2 cases in my very
intensive medical training, both major (>50% whole body) burns. Most docs
have never seen it. & I live in the far north, where tetanus spore does
not survive well in the soil.
I don't think the Ledum I gave Ben [his son] did diddly-squat, unless it helped to
lessen the pain of the wound. I wasn't trying to credit it for preventing
tetanus in his case (tho I can see how one might have read that into my
posting).
What I was trying to say, was that the decision to skip immunization can
sometimes be severely tested at the 11th hour - you know, like Louise said,
air-raids seem a whole lot more real when the bombs start falling. & That
happened for me - at least I could imagine the sound of approaching
airplane engines - I lay awake on his bedroom floor a good while, feeling
very tried for my decision to not immunize. Too late to reverse it then -
without the initial series of 3, a tetanus immunization that night would
not have been effective.
But then I came to the realization that I trusted homoeopathy more than the
immunization anyway. I had my Ledum, & my Hypericum, & my whole warehouse
of remedies, & my repertories & MMs & old books that smelled like kerosene
with pressed lentils between the pages ;^) . & I realized that God &
Hahnemann would not forsake me (that's for the folks who are concerned
about religious zealotry ;^) ). So I fell asleep & slept peacefully. &
The point is not that Ben was OK - of course Ben was OK - the point is that
his father was OK.
Well hey, I don't understand this either! ;^) I think what I said was
that I've had a number of parents of unvaccinated kids call me with 11th
hour concerns like mine, above. & We both suddenly discover that their
decision to not immunize was based on a naive disregard of the realities of
potential disease. Now (to borrow Louise's air-raid metaphor), the bombs
are falling & they freak, & they question the wisdom of their decision to
not immunize.
[...]
Will Taylor, MD
Homoeopathy Website at:
>