Tetanus

Abstract

Tetanus is a noncommunicable infectious disease of humans and certain animal species, acquired usually through environmental exposure. Clostridium tetani is an anaerobic, spore-forming bacilli ubiquitous in the soil. The spores germinate to vegetative bacilli when introduced into the soft tissues of the host under conditions in which the partial pressure of molecular oxygen is low. The vegetative organisms produce a potent neurotoxin that acts on the central nervous system (CNS), leading to the muscular contractions characteristic of the illness. © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2009.