oa Southern African Journal of Infectious Diseases - Tetanus : a patient in a primary healthcare setting : case study

Abstract

Tetanus is a disease caused by a Clostridium tetani infection, a complication of wounds. We present a case in which a patient presented with seizures and was incorrectly assessed to have epilepsy. Permission to publish this report was obtained from the patient. The clinical diagnosis was tetanus. A review of the literature is provided. Due to the fatality of this disease, primary care health professionals need to have a high index of suspicion of it as the consequences could be fatal if missed.