In article , Pat
Kiewicz wrote:

paghat said:

Another garden health issue is tetanus, which lives in most garden soils.
As we get older'n'older we become increasingly susceptible to tetanus.
One-third of tetanus cases are from gardening injuries. Stay updated with
tetanus shots (stay updated with ten-year boosters); try to wear gloves
for most gardening duties; and habitually clean injuries with
antibacterial soap.

Having very recently had a trip to the emergency room for a nasty
gardening-related wound to one of my fingers...

The emergency room doctor recommended a fresh tetanus shot as
my last had been more than five years ago and I most definitely had
what he would call a dirty puncture (actually, two of them).

And my regular doctor recommends every seven years for 'high risk'
patients, and my gardening (especially as I often neglect to use gloves)
puts me at higher than average risk of exposure.

Apparently, even people who've kept up to date (every ten years) have
gotten tetanus. (Though it seems that tetanus is not quite as deadly
as reputation has it.)

The deadly reputation is deserved in developing countries, where it kills
about a million people every year. In the USA it kills only about five a
year. But now and then there's an unexpected pocket of fatalities. On
Vancouver island alone this year so far, there have been three tetanus
deaths.

But of course one doesn't have to be dead to be awfully sorry about the
serious neurological damage due to the periodic imunogobin boosters having
not been kept up with. It's only "not quite as deadly as reputation has
it" in developed countries because of preventative measures are standard.

-paghat the ratgirl
--
visit my temperate gardening website:
http://www.paghat.com
visit my film reviews website:
http://www.weirdwildrealm.com