General Question

photographcrash's avatar

Do I need to get a tetanus shot?

Asked by photographcrash (809points) August 25th, 2009

In the basement today, I scraped my ankle against an old rusty paint can. It scraped my skin but did not break the skin.. there was no blood. Do I still need to get a tetanus shot?

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7 Answers

PerryDolia's avatar

No. If you did not break the skin, there is no wound to potentially get infected.

teh_kvlt_liberal's avatar

I don’t think so.
I mean it’s not like you stabbed your ankle on it.

macca's avatar

Tetanus develops not because of the type of object you injure yourself with (as many people believe rust is the cause of tetanus), but because of the state of the cut. A deep cut caused by a rusty object, for instance, creates a jagged wound that is hard to clean and prevents oxygen from circulating; providing ideal environment for the bacteria to thrive and easily enter your body and affect the nervous system in order to cause the symptoms associated with tetanus. Since you did not cut yourself in this way, you would not need to worry.

casheroo's avatar

Whe nwas your last shot? I believe they last 10 years, for the booster shots. My last shot was in 2006, so I know I’d be covered if something ridiculous happened.
You didn’t break the skin, and tetanus is quite rare…http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00053713.htm says there was only 124 cases over three years. I wouldn’t worry.

Buttonstc's avatar

No. You don’t need a tetanus shot since there is no place for an infection to flourish on unbroken skin.

deni's avatar

I wouldn’t.

MagsRags's avatar

If it did not break the skin, you don’t need a booster for this. But if it’s been more than 10 years since your last booster, you should get a booster just for health maintenance. Tetanus is a spore, and enters through broken skin. We all think of the rusty nail being the culprit, but tetanus can be acquired from a shallow scratch, and it can be found in garden soil. Deep puncture wounds provide ideal breeding grounds for tetanus, so if you get one and it’s been more than 5 years since your last booster, get one within 72 hours.

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