Tetanus

[Fancyfryup]

Should I get a tetanus vaccination following a small nick that happened while gardening?
It was from a shard of a muddy plant pot.
Cut is very small, about 3mm and not deep.
Went to injury unit in local hospital today to check, but nurse said vaccination wasn't needed as cut was small. Still worried though as I probably last had a vaccination against tetanus about 40 years ago, if then. I also probably have trust issues, but not sure nurse was right. Dr google tells me to vaccinate but...
Should I forget about it or contact gp?

You wasted their time going to the injury unit. You’ve seen a healthcare professional and they’ve said you don’t need it.

If you’d believe Dr Google over a HCP why even bother going in the first place?

Medical personnel make mistakes sometimes too. I have first hand experience of this hence the trust issues.
I took up approximately 3 minutes of her time.

Just give it a good wash. No idea why you went to get a tiny nick looked at really.

I got a tetanus shot 3 years ago after standing on a rusty nail that pierced about half inch into the base of my foot.

The only reason they vaccinated was because neither the GP or NHS England could find a record of secondary vaccination at school - if they had they wouldn’t have given me an injection.

So call the GP and ask but if you have a full course of vaccinations previously then I’d be surprised if they did feel you needed it.

Ex nurse here - tetanus is pretty rare these days however .. booster recommendations changed to every thirty years from ten .. so regardless you should probably check your vaccination record and make a routine appointment to get it done ..
a tiny cut from your garden will be fine
.. however you should still wash it thoroughly as there are plenty of other bugs in soil
. run under a warm tap and squeeze the cut to make sure any debris comes out .. ideally this should be done as soon as possible ..

Five doses in a lifetime now covers you unless you have a high risk or tetanus prone wound or for foreign travel.
A puncture type gardening (unclean) wound would class as tetanus prone and warrant a booster.
Practice nurse.

Thank you. No idea of my vaccination history though I do remember getting some. I was a child in 60s/70s but not in uk. I doubt the records are available to my gp unfortunately.
Do you think the nurse was right to refuse me the vaccine @Rockschooldropout and @cptartapp? It wasnt a deep puncture, no.

As I said I'm not in uk so I'd be paying for the medical appointment though not the vaccine itself (not sure what that costs). I'm not sure they'll charge me having sent me away though. We'll see.

She didn't ask about my vaccination history either. Just said wound was small.

If you are at high risk ie you’ve never been vaccinated or it’s a serious wound - you are given an immunoglobulin shot .. the nurse did not think that was needed - however you do need to speak to your hcp about getting an up to date booster at some point ..that’s how it would work in the U.K.

Thank you

In the UK if we have uncertain or undocumented vaccination history we are supposed to start you on the whole course from scratch.
You can't over vaccinate.
It doesn't sound heavily contaminated so no immunoglobulin, but with a pretty reliable vaccination history with the last dose over ten years ago I would probably have given you a booster. Gardening wounds involving soil are more likely to contain tetanus spores.

What country are you in @Fancyfryup ?

3mm and not deep. Did it even bleed?

Tetanus is a threat in deep puncture wounds. This sounds like a scratch. Are you keeping it open to the air so it dries and heals quickly? I know you are worried but this really does sound totally fine and doesn't need urgent action.

I'm in Ireland. Yes I'm keeping it open to the air.
I know I sound like a total hypochondriac, sorry, but was just a bit worried because soil was involved. I know that's where the bacteria causing tetanus are found. And I know deep puncture wounds are worse, but apparently you can also get tetanus from a scratch.
I thought they'd give a booster to be on the safe side so was a bit surprised and worried when they didn't.

Tetanus cannot reproduce in the absence of oxygen.. risk factors include deep puncture wounds that do not bleed freely, significant burns, compromised circulation .. if it's exposed to air... tetanus is highly unlikely to reproduce and cause an infection.

The vaccine takes longer to produce antibodies than tetanus symptoms would appear in the case of infection so vaccination after injury is done to protect against future exposures.. if there is a significant risk of immediate infection or signs of infection, the required treatment is immunoglobulin.

Thank you@ChateauMargaux. I assume that's if you haven't been vaccinated previously though? I probably have at some stage but not sure.

Bacteria from the soil or manure enter the body through open cuts and burns. The wound may be as small or as insignificant as a pinprick.

The above is what it says on the hse website (our nhs equivalent) which is why I started worrying.

If you are worried you can ask the nurse at your GP practice to give you the vaccine. Mine gave me one when I’d damaged my leg in the garden even though I was wearing jeans so no contact with anything that had been in the soil.

Bacteria may enter the body through a pin prick.. but it cannot reproduce in the presence of oxygen so it would have to be a set of unlikely and incredibly unfortunate circumstances that in themselves would be greater cause for concern... eg compromised circulation / very severe burns..

Ok, thank you again. Sorry for being such a worry wart. I don't usually have health anxiety, not sure what's happened me this time!

In France we use Eau Oxygenée (highly diluted H2O2) to clean dubious wounds.. brings extra O2.. Available from pharmacies and supermarkets.

@Fancyfryup have you ever had the whooping cough vaccine? It includes tetanus vaccine so you might have had it more recently than you think

Thanks for that suggestion @ChateauMargaux.
Any vaccinations ( except covid and swineflu) would have been in 60s or 70s @Smurf123 so not that recent.

That's the least scientific thing I've read in a long time!

@KrisAkabusi .. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5423573/