| Evaluating tetanus immune status is not yet the usual clinical practice regarding patients with chronic ulcers or myasis. However, of 858 tetanus patients at Hospital Couto Maia (Salvador, Bahia, Brazil) aged 1 year or above, 2 had pressure ulcers and 17 had chronic ulceration of the lower limbs where these skin lesions were the ports of entry for Clostridium tetani. In these 19 cases, the following predisposing factors were described: venous insufficiency (n=6), sickle cell anemia (n=2), Hansen's disease (n=1), malnutrition (n=1), diabetes mellitus (n=1), trauma (n=1) and unknown factors (n=7). In 6 other cases, in addition to the Hansen's disease patient, the port of entry for tetanus was the site of extraction of Tunga penetrans larvae. In these 25... |
