Tetanus Vaccine Safety

Tetanus is an infection caused by a bacteria known as Clostridium tetani. The bacteria enters your body when you receive a puncture wound that introduces the bacteria into your blood stream. Because tetanus can be fatal, it's recommended that adults and children receive regular tetanus vaccines.

Significant Side Effects

• The most common side effects of the tetanus vaccine cause no long-term health complications and normally involve the site where the vaccine was given, including site redness, swelling and skin rashes.

Other Side Effects

• Less common, but not dangerous, side effects of the tetanus vaccine include malaise, fever, body or joint pains and nausea.

Features

• If you receive a tetanus booster more often than once every 10 years, it's more likely that you will experience redness and skin irritation from the vaccine, reports the Mayo Clinic. Side effects are more likely and more severe when large doses of the vaccine are necessary to treat known exposure to tetanus.

Solution

• When large doses of the tetanus vaccine are required, doctors frequently administer a separate injection of a substance called human tetanus hemoglobin, which is derived from human blood that contains tetanus antibodies. This helps reduce the likelihood of adverse reactions to the tetanus vaccine, reports RxList.

Risks

• Rarely, patients develop severe anaphylactic reactions to the tetanus vaccine approximately two to eight hours after the shot is given. These types of reactions cause shortness of breath and chest pain and pose a risk for shock or even death, warns RxList.