Fun with Rusty Nail Boards

Another picture!! The above is of a man with mild tetanus.

I just cleaned the garage for my mama with the help of my loving heavy-lifter sister Reine, which included moving half-full paint cans, sweeping dead leaves off of the floor, and tons of consolidating (my mother's favorite word), as well as moving a pile of nail-ridden, gives-you-tetanus-just-by-looking-at-it 2x4s. I had Reine do other things -- namely fetch water -- while I moved them.

I do not and will not have tetanus from moving these things, but it got me curious. What's tetanus anyway?

Also called "lock-jaw" (oooh, fun...) it's an infectious disease caused by open wounds (such as those caused by rusty nails and other kinds of great things that puncture your skin) getting contaminated by bacteria that live in soil. Symptoms include severe, painful muscle spasms, sweating, elevated temperature, and elevated blood-pressure. Spasms may occur frequently and last for several minutes with the body shaped into a characteristic form called opisthotonos (your entire body arches painfully, like in the painting by Sir Charles Bell). Spasms continue for up to 4 weeks, and complete recovery may take months.

There are different types as well: generalized, neonatal, local, and cephalic tetanus.

Yes, and apparently you cannot O.D. on tetanus shots, so when you go into the doctor's office and they ask when your last tetanus shot was and your response is "ummm....", chances are you'll soon know exactly when your last shot was.