RESUMO
Tetanus, often called "lockjaw", is a disease of the nervous system caused by an exotoxin of clostridium tetani. It is charactrised by intense activity of the motor neuron resulting in serve muscle spasms. Clostridium tetani, the etiologic agent in tetanus, is a gram postive, anaerobic, actively motile bacillus which in its spore-bearing form has a characteristic drumstick appearance. Ten distinct types of C. tetani can be distinguished on the basis of flagellar antigens. They are all capable of producing at lease two exotoxins - one a haemolysin is relatively unimportant clinically and the other tetano-spasmin blocks the action of inhibitory mediators at spinal synapses and interferes with neuromuscular transmission. The increase in cases of tetanus (3 cases in 2 months) seen by us at the Princess Margaret Hospital has prompted the writing of this paper on tetanus treated at the Princess Margaret Hospital between January 1980 and Febraury 1985 (AU)
