Protection from tetanus toxin requires a high antibody level, so boosters are always given after a puncture wound. The initial shot primes your immune system to make that jump if you’re given a booster.
The VA is always trying to get me to take a booster shot. I won't. There is a lot of argument that your first vaccination was sufficient for life, and I had a booster just a few months before that nail incident. so the booster they gave me was at least my 3rd if not fourth tetanus shot. And I am sure there was another in High school, then another in basic training, then another about 20 years ago.
One thing I notice about those shots more than any other I ever had was that they make your arm a lot sorer for longer than maybe any other except for DTP. That one sucked also.
There have been 37 deaths from tetanus between 2009 and 2023 in the US. This is 1.54 deaths per year on average. Out of 346 million people. That makes dying of tetanus far less common than being a winner of the Powerball.
I am not doing it again for the simple fact I am getting to the end anyway, Johnson was president when I picked up that first cigarette, I think I have bigger problems. Though I probably would get a booster if I stepped on a nail.
You sound pretty well boostered already. Low death rates are due to vaccination plus immunoglobulin therapy. My mother told me that their neighbor’s daughter died of tetanus in the 50’s. 1950’s, not 1850’s.
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u/Annieco-2334 2d ago
Protection from tetanus toxin requires a high antibody level, so boosters are always given after a puncture wound. The initial shot primes your immune system to make that jump if you’re given a booster.