On the go extraordinary days of vaccination against tetanus for adults in Emilia Romagna. A service aimed in particular at those who are carrying out activities in flooded areas, where the waters flood risk of transmitting pathogensdue to possible contamination due to sewage or chemical waste and agricultural or industrial waste.
There is no health alert yetspecifies the site of the Emilia Romagna region, but the preventive intervention serves precisely to contain any risk of a new possible emergency. For this reason, the health authorities of Romagna have taken steps to offer the tetanus vaccination service for adults, free and freeand listed a series of precautionary measures to avoid contagion.
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The situation:
- The vaccination campaign
- The tetanus risk
The vaccination campaign
Vaccinations will begin to be carried out on May 26 in the Ravenna area, in Conselice and Solarolo, and in the province of Forlì-Cesena, at community houses and in all vaccination clinics. While on the 27th it will be the turn of Sant’Agata on Santerno and Rimini. At the headquarters of the community pediatrics of Forlì it will also be possible to vaccinate minors against tetanus, diphtheria and whooping cough. The timetables and vaccination offices of Romagna can be consulted at this link.
While in Emiliawhere the flood was more contained, the free vaccination service was activated by theLocal health authority of Ferrara. The authorities remind that the vaccination is aimed only at those who have never been vaccinated against tetanus or who did the last one booster dose more than ten years ago. The vaccination status can be checked on one’s own electronic health record or requested by email from one’s reference healthcare company.
Vaccination is recommended especially to volunteers and non-volunteers who are carrying out the cleaning operations of mud or clearing waste and debris from flooded areas, where it is easier to come into contact with contaminated materials. For this it is essential to be equipped with gloves and boots or shoes in waterproof and easily washable material and disinfectable, always wash used clothes at 60 degrees o use disposable or washable coveralls and possibly also use protective goggles and visors. All other health indications can be found at this link.
The tetanus risk
The tetanus in fact, as the website of the Higher Institute of Health reports, it is one acute non-contagious infectious disease caused by a bacterium, present in nature both in vegetative form and in the form of spores. The germ in vegetative form produces a extremely potent neurotoxic toxinso much so that the lethal amount for a human being is about 7 millionths of a milligram.
The bacterium is normally present in the animal and human intestine, where it is eliminated in the faeces and for this reason wastewater is particularly subject to the risk of contamination. The spores are able to survive in outdoor environments in dirt and dust and they can only re-enter the human organism through wounds. So you don’t get tetanus from breathing, unlike Covid-19. For this it is it is essential to cover well any possible cuts or injuries before going shoveling mud or doing other work, as well as avoiding touching your mouth and eyes in those circumstances.
In case of contagion the incubation period ranges from 3 to 21 days and the symptoms shown are stiffness of the face, which manifests itself in a smiling grimace, stiffness in the neck, difficulty swallowing, stiffness in the abs, fever, sweating or tachycardia. The disease is not contagious so isolation is not necessary. It is important to always disinfect any wounds and go to the emergency room immediately if you have symptoms.
