Question

A 12-year-old child sustains a moderate burn injury. the mother reports that the child last received a tetanus injection when he was five years old. which immunization would the nurse anticipate an for this child?

Answer 1

The nurse should administer an injection of postexposure prophylaxis for tetanus. Tetanus is a toxic substance produced by a bacterium that cannot survive air (oxygen) exposure, that is why deep wounds are more vulnerable to tetanus. A moderate burn injury is considered an open dirty wound, therefore the patient should be protected from tetanus.
There is a vaccine for tetanus, that provides immunization from this disease, but it needs to be repeated every 10 years. However, in cases where there is an open dirty wound, the vaccine is believed to be inactive if it was not done within the last 5 years.
In this case, the child will not receive the tetanus vaccine, but an injection of active immunization, which acts much faster, but does not last as long as the vaccine.