TETANUS KILLED WOMAN AFTER FALL IN GARDEN
"Yorkshire Post" February 26, 2003
A rare disease, which has been largely wiped out in the UK thanks to
immunization, killed a 61-year-old woman after it got into her system through a
face wound. Sheila Creighton fell on a bush in her garden, cutting her face. She
was taken to hospital where the wound was cleaned up and stitched. But she was
forced to seek further help when her face began to ache and she had difficulty
moving her jaw.
Several medical experts who saw Mrs. Creighton, most of whom had never seen a
case of tetanus before, failed to diagnose the disorder, which attacks the
nervous system, leads to spasms, and can kill. It was only after she collapsed
several days after the fall that tetanus was diagnosed. She was treated in the
intensive care unit at Pinderfields Hospital, Wakefield, but efforts to save her
failed and she died in April last year [2002], four weeks after the fall.
An inquest in Huddersfield was told yesterday that the disease was extremely
rare in the UK. Figures for 1999 showed that there were only three reported
cases and only one resulted in death.
Deborah Tooley, specialist registrar in anesthetics and intensive care at
Pinderfields, who treated Mrs. Creighton in the later stages of the illness,
said [Mrs. Creighton] could not speak. But by asking her patient questions [Ms.
Tooley] had discovered Mrs. Creighton had had a tetanus jab in 1995.
Prior to that she indicated she hadn't been immunized for about 20 years. But
the inquest heard conflicting evidence that her GP notes showed she had been
immunized in 1991. The hearing was told that if Mrs. Creighton of Milton Road,
Liversedge, near Dewsbury, hadn't been immunized for 20 years before 1995 she
wouldn't have been protected.
Pathologist Patricia Gudgeon concluded that Mrs. Creighton's death was due to
pneumonia and brain damage caused by tetanus, which entered her system through a
contaminated wound.
Mrs. Creighton was first treated at Dewsbury District Hospital on March 28
[2002].
Dr. Ed Walker, a specialist in emergency medicine at the hospital, said she had
a clean wound that was treated and dressed. Notes he was given showed she
had been vaccinated in 1995 and because of this and the type of wound he had
decided she did not need another. Yesterday, recording a verdict of
accidental death, West Yorkshire coroner Roger Whittaker said he couldn't
criticize the various medical experts who hadn't diagnosed tetanus. He said they
had made considered judgments. It wasn't until later that all the symptoms
materialized.
He called for a better system, which would allow doctors to quickly get
information about patients' immunization records.
Speaking after the inquest Mrs. Creighton's daughter Janet Creighton said the
family was keen to raise awareness of what could happen if people were not
immunized. (HUH? SHE WAS IMMUNIZED!) "We want to make people aware that
this can happen and urge them to check records with their doctors and make sure
that they are covered. It could happen to anybody," she said. Mrs. Creighton's
husband Ronald said his family had done research and it appeared that those born
before 1961 were especially at risk, because that was when routine tetanus
immunization began [in the UK].
Hillary Butler on Tetanus:
Actually I disagree. You husband is not an equal parent in
the decision. Why? Because if something went wrong, he would not be the one
to look after your child, to invest 100% in the emotional struggle and care
of that child. That person is always the Mother. And often the fathers just
walk away. So, IMO, its actually more weighted in your favour. Unless he is
prepared to sign a legally binding document stating that in the event of
permanent damage, he will foreclose his career, and life, and take over all
the childcare from you, and free you to take on a money-earning career.
Sounds harsh, but I see this all the time.
______________________________________________
Tetanus is another one of those things which I spent years researching. I
have a long tome which is not in a format to put it into E, so you will be
spared another Sheri post. Instead you will get a tome of a different kind.
No, I would not have the vaccine, and in making that choice, this is some of
the information I would have thought about. I'm not putting it all, otherwise
I'd be here writing, in a weeks time...
FACTS
The first is that Australia did a study the results of which were published
in the New Zealand Doctor 18, March 1993, pg 23. This was the first time a
study like this had ever been done..., to see what the antibody levels were
in people 10 years after their last booster. Here is what the medical article
said:
quote:
Too many tetanus shots Some people having tetanus boosters already have
antibody levels more than 8,000 times (eight thousand) the protective level
needed, suggesting Australia's regime of a booster every 10 years is in need
of a change. Community physicians say Australia should adopt the UK regime
which advises after five doses, further boosters are unnecessary.
So the first thing maybe, is go have a titre count done.
But lets look at this titre thing. Way back in the 80's there was a study
done in the Scandinavian J Infect Dis 1983: 15;303 -306, which looked at
soldiers who had been given heaps of tetanus vaccine. Their antibody levels
were way too high as well, and what they discovered was that "repeated
exposure to an antigen, or an overdose of antigen, will not continually
enhance the immune response and may lead to inhibition or telerance at either
T or B cells level.. in addition, a possible feedback effect stimulated by
the high level of toxoid antibodies may suppress, as Stevens
and Saxon have illustrated, the production of more antibodies at a later
date"
Okay? Do you understand the implications of this?
It came out loud and clear in The Journal of Family Practice, 1997, Vol 44,
No 3, pg 299 - 303 when a 29 year old man was admitted with severe
generalised tetanus despite having had a primary series and two booster
injections. And his levels were only 100 times that considered protective,
not 8,000 times as per the Australian study!!!.
Now, if you look at the New Zealand scene, where it was pointed out in the
New Zealand Medical Journal (24th November 1994)that most people over 35 are
unlikely to have had a vaccine, since it was only inroduced in 1960, then you
have to ask yourself why every over-40 year old, isn't dropping
dead with tetanus. In 1987 a serum survey showed that just over 50% of the
60-65 group had immunity to tetanus. 83% of the 20-29 year olds, 64% of the
30 -35 year olds. And the stats aren't that much better today. I understand
they are even lower for the USA than for here. So where did the people with
immunity get it from? Many were not vaccinated...see later...
Now, if you have a look at Tetanus in America, one of the most interesting
articles is a 1969 one from the New England Medical Journal, Volume 280,
Number 11, March 13. And on pages 570 there is a really interesting decline
graph for mortality rates, which shows that the mortality rate plummetted
dramatically from 64/100,000 in 1900to 8/100,000. in 1940. By 1950, with most
mothers still unvaccinated, it was 4.5/100,000.
Not that Tetanus was ever a very common cause of death before hand anyway, in
relation to all the other things that historically could do you in. Marasmus
was a much more common killer of children than neonatal tetanus ever was...
for instance.
They say that it may have been the use of anti-toxin from 1923, but I know
far too much about antitoxin to believe that!!! Antitoxin can kill all by
itself, primarily because it is made in horses, and has horrendous
side-effects in its own right. And some people treated with anti-tetanus
toxoid, will die of the toxoid side-effects, but that is the risk you take,
if you think yu have a chance of dying anyway.....
But the article also recognises that the anti-toxin is not the only reason,
because they cover their bums by also talking about improved obstetric
techniques and neonatal care. And I would have to say wound care also. But
the graph is pretty amazing.
In interesting study in the American Journal of Public Health, August 1984,
Vol 74, No 8, showed that in 1,900 adults over 20 years of age, the overall
percentage immunised was 38.6%. Now if, in 1979, in american, only 38.6% of
adults were immunised, what are the factors which operated then to prevent
thousands of adults daily dying from tetanus?
And obviously there are people still around in USA who still have never been
vaccinated. and haven't died yet. But let's look at something else as well.
As to why tetanus has always been a rare disease in civilian communities in
places like America.
The medical profession has always stated that a person does not acquire
natural immunity to tetanus. But the funny thing is that in 1975 in Dakar, in
the proceeding of the 4th international symposium on tetanus, they talked
about "latent" natural immunity causing reactions to primary immunisation.
Then there was the study in JAMA Nov 19, 1982, Volume 248, No 19, in which a
large number of the unvaccianted Amish showed serological evidence of
immunity to both diphtheria and tetanus.
(Incidentally, the same was though about rabies (that there is no natural
immunity), until a recent study showed that in Alaskan trappers who had never
had any vaccine, they too had antibodies. Poof goes that theory)
Now, New Zealand should be THE prime hot-bed for tetanus. Everywhere you
turn, you fall over horses, etc etc - cows, sheep dogs. opossums, you name
it. And even here, Tetanus occurs sometimes, but not often. And what has been
most interesting to me is in WHOM it occurs. Recently, I was able to to a bit
of poking into the lives of 4 self-confessed tetanus sufferers who were in
the stats. And every single one of them had factors in their lives which
pre-disposed them to tetanus. One had even had a 3 primary 1 booster
schedule, and she ate refined foods, drank, smoked, and did recreation drugs.
Well, hey. What state was her immune system in!!! didn't stand a
chance at doing its job...
The other three ate the usual white flour, white sugar, coke, biscuits,very
little fruit and vegetables.....
One one was what I would call reasonable healthy, but he smoked like a train
- which as I showed him from the med lit, suppresses the immune system
considerably, especially in the airways and gut area...
Now, someone here said tetanus is only a risk with rusty nails /horses etc.
It would be wonderful if that were so, but it isn't.
For a start, 5% of us carry it in our guts, happily replicating. In fact, at
one time, the best way to get tetanus in the medical literature was to have a
hemorrhoid dealt with. Until they got wise to that one..
Tetanus is ubiquitous in our environment. It is everywhere, on everything.
Where do you think it comes from on the rusty nail? Why do you think it is
that the highest rate of tetanus in vaccinated people is in homeless drug
shooters?
Go get some dust from your mantle-piece tested and it will be there, 10 to
the power 6. It is found in bullet wounds, human bite wounds (!!) on your
carrots - you likely eat it every day. There is nowhere that tetanus is not.
In your carpet, on your soil, and often, on your skin. And if you don't
believe me, read the medical literature.
And far from rusty nails being the most common cause of tetanus, that is
not true. Rusty nails account for less that 40% of tetanus. Most tetanus
comes where there is no discernable "portal of entry". It has even been
identified following ear-ache (which left me somewhat gob-smacked --- did
the kid have grommets? and the thing shoved in the ear to "look see",
transfer Tetanus Clostridium? That wasn't even considered...)
Lets look at a bit more history from the medical literature. It has always
been known that war-time historically showed up the highest rate of tetanus.
Far higher than in civilians. Bullet/schrapnel wounds and all, and the stress
of fighting.
Boer war .28 of every thousand wounded got tetanus.
Crimean war 2.0 per 1,000
Am. Civil war 2.0 per thousand
Western front (Flanders horse country WWI average 1.47/thousand wounded. 2nd
world war varied from .06 - .43 per thousand. ( and not everyone there was
vaccinated either. In the paper on the American Tetanus cases, most who got
tetanus had been vaccinated....)
(The difference between the 2nd WW and the first has nothing to do with the
vaccine in my opinion. The second world war was in many ways, far more
hygienically fought. Where were all the mud-filled trenches, and ghastly
living conditions in the second world war, compared to the first? Those who
know their history will see that right away...)
Now, the question should be, not why did the few actually GET tetanus, but
why didn't the other 998 per thousand wounded get it? Especially when you
realise that it was days, if not weeks, before those wounded people got any
serious attention. When you read about weeks in stinking ships amongst the
wounded from Gallipoli on their way to hospital in EGYPT as well as the
substandard treatment, you have to wonder why they all didn't die.
The answer lies IMO in the unique susceptibility of the individual. That a
vaccine can confer immunity is not the question that needs to be answered.
The medical profession attributes the decrease in Tetanus SOLELY to
vaccination which is grossly misleading.
I mean, look at your family trees? Did all your great-grandparents die of
tetanus? Nope. Did they never get exposed to it? ACtually, they had far more
wounds likely to have harboured it, than we do today...
A good read of the medical textbooks of the 20's gives some idea as to one
chief reason..... In a study done in 1919-1920 by Dr Harriette Chick of the
lister Institute, and other working in Pirquets clinic in Vienna, showed that
"nearly all children in Central Europe were more or less rachitic"
Remember Rickets? Remember being lined up with cod-liver oil and black-strap
molasses. (Last year, there was an article which shows that rickets is rising
again in the USA....)
Most older people living now can remember the free milk, cod-liver oil by the
spoon-full. One here has already made derogatory comments about it.... Even
in the rich communities in London in the 30's there were still over 30% of
children with definable nutritional deficiencies...
Now, its interesting in that light, to know that there are studies which show
that when you vaccinate people whose nutritional status is not good, at least
30% do not respond to the vaccine, even when given highly concentrated fluid
toxoids (Med J Aust, Aug 7, 1976). Again the work by Chandra shows that their
rate of non-conversion to the vaccine gets higher with the degree of
malnutrition, and that malnourished mothers pass on such low levels of IgG
that the babies' passive immunity is virtually nil.
There is no way around the blinding revelation of the obvious that
1) Bad nutrition is a very serious immune suppressor
2) Immune suppression, or malfunction, is the chief determiner of the
severity of tetanus.
And the work by Chandra et all, shows that obesity causes immune changes
similar to those caused by malnutrition, so nutritional status is
wide-ranging in its implications.
And then there is the hysteria factor which suppresses the immune system as
well, which was amply demonstrated in the USA in Johb Paul's book "The
history of Polio" where at times when the media hype was bordering on the
screaming paranoid, people would be admitted with what they called
"pseudo-polio"
Talking of hysteria, rember that hysteria is one of the differential
diagnoses of tetanus, as is hypocalcemia, meningitis, rabies, drug
withdrawal, strychnine poisoning, and dystonic drug reaction.
"red streaks" may have nothing to do with tetanus at all. When I was in USA
in 1993, I got a chigger bite, which the chemist treated with what looked
like nail polish, and said it would be just fine. Well, it wasn't. After 4
days, my legs ached, and I had red streaks up to the groin. And while my
hosts freaked their heads off, I plonked myself in the bath, took a
sterilised 3 inch needle, put a piece of wood between my teeth, and opened it
up in a Y shape. The rotten chigger, and pus exploded everywhere....
And within three days, the red streaks had completely gone as had all
infection. And since I am fatally allergic to all antibiotics, no, I didn't
use them. I let my body do the job it is designed for, with judicious help
from vitamin quackery.....
Back to history
There is much made of the fact that the Japanese soldiers in WWII had a lot
of tetanus in comparison to the Americans. 14 per hundred.... But when
researching this, I was interested to read this "We embarked 284 wounded
Japanese soldiers. We found them to be generally dirty, emaciated and with
wounds that had been improperly treated." By contrast, the 384 wounded US
solders were described as clean, well-fed with wounds that had been promptly
treated.
Aparently this counted for nothing, and that the reason the USA soldiers had
escaped "in comparison" was the vaccine. Which makes me very annoyed, because
there is another factor they missed out, which is integral to understanding
the japanese-- What was not taken into account was that to be taken captive
was the ultimate in disgrace to any japanese, and many lost the will to live,
and died anyway. Imagine the shape of the immune system of someone with no
hope....
Now you would think too, that ALL the US personnel during WWII who got
tetanus would have been unimmunised, but not so. There were twelve cases. 6
of them had completed an immunisation schedule, and one had had one shot. And
three of the 6 with a completed schedule, died. Three of the unvaccinated
suvived. The one who had had one shot, survived. Seems sort of 50/50 to me.
(Bull US Army Med Dept, Vol VII, no 4, April 1947). The British records are
even stranger, with the immunized often having a higher overall case
mortality record than the unimmunsed. In the Lancet, Jan 26, 1946, pg 116
looking at the case Mortality rates, in the "protected" it was 50%, in the
Unprotected it was 46.8%, and in the incomplete or doubtful it was 42.1%.
The list of side-effects which I have for Tetanus vaccine is huge, but I
won't go into that. What I wanted to reinforce was nutritional status, and
some history, but finally to draw your attention to a most interesting study.
This is found in the Bangladesh medical Research Council Bulleting, Volume
10, No 1, June 1984.
As I said, a differential diagnosis is Strynchnine poisoning. The first part
was to take two day old chicks divided into fur groups with 15 birds in each.
Group one got 5 nanograms of strychnine sulphate (SS). Group 2 got SS plus 30
mg of Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C) Group 3 10 nonograms of SS, and group 4 got10
nanos SS and 30 mg Vitamin C. The results were:
Group one, Wings of all birds stretched, Some walked on toes, others kept
jumping but could not walk.
Group 2 - No symptoms
Group 3, Extensor paralysis of legs, opisthotonus and severe convulsions,and
all but three died.
Group 4, Extensor paralysis in 3 chicks. No neurological symptoms in others.
the affected bird recovered in about 30 minutes after the appearance of
symptoms.
Then they randomly assigned tetanus cases into four groups.
Ages 1-11
No Vitamin C = 72% mortality rate.
Vitamin C 0% mortality rate.
Ages 13 - 30
Vitamin C, 37% mortality
Non Vitamin C 67.8 % mortality rate.
But they made one mistake with this. All patients got 1,000 mg of Vitamin C.
They did not ADJUST UPWARDS the dose of vitamin C for the bigger body weight.
Had they done that, the results might have been different. They did another
study looking at the use of B 6, pyrodoxine and found that that also reduced
both severity an mortality.
Think on that. Tetanus is a toxin-mediated disease, rather like diphtheria.
It is determined by nutritional status, and immune function more than
anything else...
But there is another interesting fact. The body, with a wound, puts up
"road-blocks" to stop the toxin spreading. It is fascinating to me, that it
has long been known that "Wound excision should be delayed until the
antitoxin is given, as free tetanospasmin is mobilized into the blood-stream
during surgical manipulation." In other words, debridement of wounds breaks
open these road-blocks, and floods the system with poison....
I also found in interesting that in the Am J Dis Child Vol 135, June 1981, Pg
571 it says "the mortality in reported cases of tetanus is higher in the USA
than in developing countries." Perhaps it is because in the USA the methods
of treatment are very invastive, include debridement, tracheotomy - a whole
host of things which just can't be done in developing countries, not just
because of cost, but also because of infection risk.
Parents sue when player is benched
Boy's religion-based decision to refuse tetanus shot prompts suit
Dolores Orman
Staff writer
(July 8, 2005) — HENRIETTA — The parents of a Rush-Henrietta High School student
have accused the school district of violating the teen's constitutional rights.
Howard and Barbara Hadley of Henrietta claim in a federal lawsuit that the
district didn't allow their son, Harry, 16, to play lacrosse this spring after
he refused to get a tetanus shot on religious grounds. They are seeking $1
million in damages.
The Hadleys had obtained a waiver from immunizations under the public health law
for religious reasons in September 1998 for their three school-age children,
according to the complaint filed June 22 in U.S. District Court. The children
have attended Rush-Henrietta schools since then "without ever having been
immunized," the complaint said. Harry had been playing school lacrosse since he
came to the district as a seventh-grader, according to the complaint.
But in early March, the boy's junior year, a school nurse told him he had to get
a tetanus shot to play lacrosse. The teen did not get the shot because of his
religious beliefs. District officials contend that a child's right to a public
education under law doesn't cover athletics, and so the Hadleys' immunization
exemption covers only academics.
The Hadleys' lawyer disagrees.
"That's an arbitrary distinction and a violation of freedom of religion under
First Amendment rights," said Patricia Finn of Sparkill, Rockland County. George
DesMarteau, the school district's attorney, declined to comment on the lawsuit
because it is a matter in litigation. However, he did state the district's
position on immunizations and sports. "The district believes that statutory
provisions that require enrollment of students lacking normal immunizations due
to sincerely held public beliefs are not applicable to the medical determination
of fitness for participation in sports," he said.
"The district operates from the premise that it has an obligation to screen
students (for sports) to ensure that these students are physically capable of
participation without undue risk of injury or complication from injury." Howard
Hadley, who is a chiropractor, said he and his wife have four children — Harry,
who is the oldest; a daughter who just finished eighth grade; a son who has
completed sixth grade, and a 2-year-old daughter.
They are Catholic and are members of Guardian Angels parish in Henrietta. Hadley
emphasized that their belief about vaccinations is their own, noting that the
parish doesn't teach it and the Roman Catholic Church has no opinion on it. "It
is a personally held, sincere religious exemption that we have," Hadley said.
"We do receive medical care when it's needed, but not in this manner."
He said this paragraph in the complaint accurately reflected their religious
belief regarding immunizations: "We feel that when God created us, He gave us
everything we need — an immune system that works beautifully. We believe that
the power that creates has the power to heal. Immunizations show a lack of faith
in God." Harry was allowed to practice indoors with the lacrosse team for
about four weeks after his refusal to get the shot, according to the lawsuit.
But when the team moved outdoors in early April, he wasn't allowed to practice
or to play in any games, the suit said.
Playing lacrosse is important to Harry because he hopes to obtain a college
lacrosse scholarship, according to the suit. "The restriction imposed upon me by
the school, prohibiting me from playing lacrosse, is affecting every aspect of
my life and I believe it is very, very unfair," Harry is quoted in an affidavit.
The suit seeks a temporary restraining order that would allow Harry to play on
the Rush-Henrietta lacrosse team while the case is pending. Finn said she will
seek the restraining order near the start of the 2005-06 school year.
DORMAN@DemocratandChronicle.com
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