I believe there are around 10 (or fewer) deaths per year from tetanus in the USA….yet in emergency medicine we are ‘taught’ that all patients more than 5 years out from their last tetanus booster need another booster…even if you cut yourself with a clean kitchen knife or equivalent (essentially a zero tetanus risk wound). I tell patients all of this and most still request the booster.
I believe there are around 10 (or fewer) deaths per year from tetanus in the USA….yet in emergency medicine we are ‘taught’ that all patients more than 5 years out from their last tetanus booster need another booster…even if you cut yourself with a clean kitchen knife or equivalent (essentially a zero tetanus risk wound). I tell patients all of this and most still request the booster.