What’s rust got to do with it? Very little.
By Eleanor Cummins March
8, 2019
Rusty nails aren't the only
threat.
The conversation in which your
parents tell you to keep an eye out for rusty nails is basically a rite of
passage. They tell you about the dangers of rust; explain the see something,
say something protocol for things that look like they could puncture you; and
foreshadow the harsh punishment for disobeying—lockjaw.
This advice certainly comes
from a good place. But it’s also fundamentally wrong.
This is not to say that
tetanus isn't as bad as parents promise. In North America, the Cleveland
Clinic estimates, 10 percent of cases are fatal. In countries with
inadequate or inaccessible medical care, the number is believed to be much
higher.
Even survival takes its
toll. On Friday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released
a new installment in its "Notes from the
Field" series about an unvaccinated 6-year-old boy in Oregon who
contracted tetanus after he got a cut in his forehead. The bacteria incubated
inside his little body for a few days, then suddenly manifested in horrible jaw
clenching and muscle spasms, heart rate, blood pressure, and body temperature
irregularities. He lived, but only after 57 days in the hospital and more than
$800,000 in medical bills.
But counter to what rusty
nail warnings might have you believe, the disease has nothing to do with iron
oxide, the chemical compound more commonly known as rust. Rather, tetanus is
a product of the bacteria Clostridium tetani, which is in dirt,
dust, and feces—in other words, everywhere. It can enter your body through
puncture wounds, yes, but also through superficial cuts, bug bites, surgical procedures, and any other
rupture to your skin. It can come from stepping on a rusty nail, or
tending the soil in your garden. That's why it's so essential to track your
booster shots: You need one every decade, not just when you rip your palm open
on a rusty chain link fence. Waiting for a classic tetanus injury won't work
when anything could, in theory, be a tetanus injury.
If the bacteria enter your
body and you aren't up-to-date on your vaccinations, the tiny invaders begin to
multiply rapidly. This incubation period, which lasts between three and 21 days,
according to the CDC, is symptom free. But as the bacteria begin to die inside
you, they form a neurotoxin that attacks the nervous system. Specifically,
it inhibits the chemical GABA, which regulates muscle
contractions. The result is a body-wide state of tension, from lockjaw in your
face to uncontrollable arching spasms in your back to permanently-curled toes.
How rusty nails came to be
so closely associated with tetanus isn't clear. Iron oxide is basically
harmless to the human body; millions of people drink water transported by rusty
iron pipes with no health effects. (Bridges aren't so lucky—rusting has buckled
many an iron span.) Perhaps it's some classic American folklore. Or, as Esther
Inglis-Arkell argued on the site i09, it has
something to do with the anaerobic environment in which the
tetanus-causing Clostridium tetani bacteria thrives. As iron
oxidizes, it eats up atmospheric oxygen, creating a low-oxygen environment for
the bacteria to grow. While rust doesn't cause tetanus, the two may have a
symbiotic (and symbolic) relationship.
For thousands of years,
tetanus plagued humankind. Hippocrates, the ancient Greek physician, mentioned
the disease in his works. But in 1884, researchers discovered how the disease
worked, and just 40 years later, scientists had developed a vaccine. Today,
three shots and a booster every 10 years is basically 100 percent effective at preventing tetanus, whether
it's contracted from a seemingly-clean kitchen knife, a diaper change, or a
rusted-up nail. The best part? It's not too late to get yours. Make sure your
booster shots are up to date!
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