Is tetanus actually a risk?

A tweet from a self-described “pro-patriarchy” account claims that tetanus deaths are rare and mostly affect specific groups, while vaccine risks and medical errors in treating tetanus wounds are higher.

This claimant is outraged about vaccines despite a low rate of disease incidence in a highly vaccinated population. He is saying that the incidence of disease is only 0.10 per 1 million people and is declining. He may not know that before the vaccine was widespread, the case rate was 400 per 1 million people, which, using his numbers, 4,000 times higher than it is now, when most people are vaccinated against tetanus.

Globally, prior to the tetanus vaccine, one million babies died from tetanus annually. An estimated 14,000 infants still died of neonatal tetanus in 2019. These deaths occurred mainly in countries with low tetanus vaccination rates. In countries where most people get tetanus vaccines, we do not have these problems.

The claim relies on VAERS data as evidence that the vaccine itself has caused 795 deaths between 2001-2008. However, VAERS is a tool for collecting reports of any health issues after vaccination. However, these reports do not prove that the vaccine caused the adverse event.

It’s also important to know that tetanus infection does not give you immunity, so you could get it again. Stay up-to-date on your tetanus shots!