The Survivor: A Clinical Case of Tetanus in a Non-Immunized, Parenteral Drug User, Former Female Convict with HIV and HCV.

Tetanus is a serious and potentially fatal systemic disease, caused by the bacterium . It is estimated that 1 million cases occur worldwide annually. Immunization programs have drastically decreased tetanus in developed countries, and the sporadic cases have been linked to injecting drug users (IDUs), immunosuppressed individuals, or those older than 65 without complete vaccination.

Use of the tetanus quick stick (TQS) test in the emergency services.

Standard procedure when treating tetanigenic risk wounds in an emergency room setting, usually includes administering a dose of gamma-globulin or/and a tetanus vaccine. The rapid detection test (Tetanus Quick Stick [TQS]) can better the current procedure of detecting people who are not immunized. Our objective was to review and analyse the validity of the TQS test, and determine the cost-benefit with the data available.