Neonatal tetanus associated with skin infection

Neonatal tetanus associated with skin infection.

A 1-week-old infant was brought to a regional hospital with a history of recurrent seizures following lower abdominal septic skin infection. She was found to have neonatal tetanus, and a spatula test was positive. The tetanus infection was associated with a superficial skin infection, common in neonates. Treatment included sedatives (diazepam, chlorpromazine, phenobarbitone and morphine), muscl...

Eliminating Neonatal Tetanus

Maternal and neonatal tetanus.

Maternal and neonatal tetanus are important causes of maternal and neonatal mortality, claiming about 180 000 lives worldwide every year, almost exclusively in developing countries. Although easily prevented by maternal immunisation with tetanus toxoid vaccine, and aseptic obstetric and postnatal umbilical-cord care practices, maternal and neonatal tetanus persist as public-health problems in 4...

Neonatal tetanus in Casablanca

Neonatal tetanus (NT) remains common in developing countries. Its poor prognosis is characterized by a high mortality rate. Patients and methods – Our retrospective review concerned 50 cases of NT admitted to the intensive care and neonatology units in the Casablanca Children’s Hospital between 1990 and 1999. The diagnosis was made on clinical signs and gravity was evaluated with the Dakar scor...

Neonatal tetanus treated with high dosage diazepam.

The combination of continuous intravenous infusion of diazepam (20--40 mg/kg per day) and intragastric phenobarbitone (10--15 mg/kg per day in 4 divided doses) was used to treat 19 cases of neonatal tetanus. Mortality was 2/19 (11%). This regimen was considered to have reduced the mortality and the need for artificial ventilation. The main side effects encountered were severe drowsiness, coma, ...