Tetanus shot

This is kind of an odd question but maybe someone knows the answer. In 2005 I was in Negril and cut my hand and ended up having to have stitches at the hospital in Sav. My employer (I work at a hospital) is questioning what kind of Tetanus shot I had in Jamaica, if it included the whooping cough vaccine or not - a Boostrix shot? I did have somewhat of a reaction to the Tetanus shot with blistering at the site of the injection, kind of like sunburn blistering. I also had follow up visits at the clinic in Negril, Dr. Radomski?, and had my stitches out there. Would anyone have any idea about this? Thanks.

Can not speak to Jamaica. Interesting that there are more than 1 kind of tetanus shot. I know I was involved in flood aid here in Iowa in 1993 and 2008 and they reccomended a tetanus booster both times.

And because I have a 1 year old grandson I zeroed in on an article the other day abouting Whooping Cough being at record levels in parts of the states and it noted #1 us old folks can get whooping cough still and #2 us old folks whooping cough boosters are probably all way out of date therefore our protection is out of date. Expect to see "No Appointment Whooping Cough Boosters" on the Walgreen's reader board soon.

Hope you find your answer.

I think the only solid answer you could get on this would be from calling the hospital in Sav.

I'm a retired RN of 37 years but I don't have an answer for you. In my experience, at least here in the states, a Tetanus is a single injection not combined with any other vaccines. I would only be assuming that would be the same in Jamaica. The best answer would be to see if you can get any info from the doc in Negril. Good luck! You might be able to check with another physician in Negril and see what the standard protocol is in Jamaica.

rachel don't know what shot you would of had may have just been the booster,but enough years have passed would get the tdap shot Then you will know what is given to you.

More than likely you just received a tetanus shot as Tdap, Boostix is expensive. It is recommended that everyone between the ages of 11-64 receive i tetanus pertussis booster. Then a tetanus booster every 1- yrs unless you get a serious cut. If you are not sure if you received a combination shot, you should get a tdap. any side effects you experience is 10x less than the problems that tetanus or pertussis can cause. I find it amazing that employers don't offer the shots to employees so that they know your dates. ( I worked in health care and ran an immunization clinic and none of us could get a free shot until we had an outbreak in the county).

Not sure if this helps, but here in the States, they administer a Tdap vaccine which is a combo vaccine of diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (whooping cough).
I would give the clinic a call, and they should be able to tell you if you received the combo Tdap or just a plain tetanus shot.

Very unlikely you got pertussis with the tetanus shot. Your doctor will tell you how to proceed since the clinic Dr. Radomski worked at is closed and getting a copy of your single visit that long ago at Sav hospital would be next to impossible - if you could convince someone to even try to look for it. Your doctor will know if it's safe to give you another pertussis in case you did get it in Jamaica.

I will ask some of my doctor friends in Jamaica if they might know if pertussis was routinely included in a tetanus booster.

Like Chet said - pertussis is on the rise and in some states, like Illinois, clinics will probably start soon, like they did for H1N1 (Swine flu)

Babalew - I think you meant every 10 years for a tetanus booster. Did your finger accidentally hit the next key over from the 0 :)

Yes Nurse Marcia..didn't even noticed...typing in the dark! Thanks.

Thanks for all your help. I kinda thought I probably didn't have the pertussis vaccine down there. Maybe I'll wait for the Walgreens sign. :)

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Originally Posted by yetta

I'm a retired RN of 37 years but I don't have an answer for you. In my experience, at least here in the states, a Tetanus is a single injection not combined with any other vaccines. I would only be assuming that would be the same in Jamaica. The best answer would be to see if you can get any info from the doc in Negril. Good luck! You might be able to check with another physician in Negril and see what the standard protocol is in Jamaica.

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DTaP - Diptheria, Tetanus & Pertussis is given as the primary vaccination series which begins in infancy.

Tdap - Tetanus, Diptheria & Pertussis is the first booster shot for tetanus. All adults who expect to have contact iwth a child younger than 1 year old should get this type of vaccination at least once.

Td - Tetanus, Diptheria - this is the standard booster for tetanus given once every 10 years.

I too would recommend checking with the hospital in Sav to see what type of booster was given. It should have been written down on your treatment form. In any case though, it is possible that your "local reaction" may have been caused by the skin cleanser used, the gloves, a secondary infection or even the injection technique rather than to the vaccine itself. It is not unusual to have mild redness, tenderness or muscle soreness for a few days post injection. Perhaps your sunburn type peeling was just that, caused by the sun in addition to the shot.

Actually, enough time has passed to make this a moot point. You could probably do well to just get a Tdap and be done with it. :)

It was highly unlikely you got a pertussis booster according to my Dr. friend in Kingston. The usual practice is Jamaica is to only give a Tetanus booster for injuries like yours.

Yes Sweet Sue, you are correct. I didn't clarify that I was speaking of a booster...not the initial vaccinations. My bad!!! I worked in Orthopedics and we only gave the Tetanus boosters for cuts, etc. In the 27 years of working for that particular establishment....the tetanus booster was just as stated...only tetanus. Sorry that I responded so quickly that I overlooked an important word...booster.

Thanks for clarifying. :)

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Originally Posted by Nurse Marcia

It was highly unlikely you got a pertussis booster according to my Dr. friend in Kingston. The usual practice is Jamaica is to only give a Tetanus booster for injuries like yours.

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Thanks for checking that with your doctor friend. I was told by the clinic in Jamaica that my reaction was probably because I still had Tetanus immunity in my system since my previous Tetanus shot had been 7 years before. I had insisted on a Tetanus shot in the hospital though since I had a lot of dirt in the wound.

Rachel can you get your shot from work? At least you know you more than likely will need the Tdap then will be good to go for awhile. Make a note of it. Wishing you luck to not having a bad reaction. Last one may have been from your injury. Glad you were able to get that taken care of in Jamaica. Sorry you had a mishap there.

Yes, sounds like I can get my shot at work, free of charge even. I never had a reaction with the shot in the states, just the one in Jamaica so hopefully it will be okay. The first time in my life I ever had to be a patient in the hospital was in Jamaica and day 2 of a 16 day stay too yet.