In this slide, I will teach you about gram-positive rod which is Clostridium tetani. I will tell you about its diseases, transmission, pathogenesis, characteristics, lab diagnosis, treatment, and prevention in a short and easy way.

2. CLOSTRIDIUM TETANI
GRAM POSITIVE ROD

3. CLOSTRIDIUM SPECIES
•Clostridium tetanus
•Clostridium botulinum
•Clostridium perfringens
•Clostridium difficile

4. DISEASES
• Tetanus causes stiffness or spasm in the muscles inability to move easily
and without pain. (Spastic paralysis)
• Opistotonus, a position in which exaggerated arching or curve ,
hyperextension & spasticity of the head, neck, spinal column and back
• Risus sardonicus (rictus grin ) spasm facial muscles that appears to
produce grinning (reveal the teeth)
• Lock jaw (stiffness of the jaw)
• Cellulitis with crepitus (any grinding) in area to compound or open
fracture of leg during motor cycle accident
• Neonatal tetanus contaminated umbilicus or circumcision wound

6. HABIAT & TRANSMISSION
• Habiat
• Soil (widespread spores)
• Transmission
• Traumatic break in the skin
• Spores is favored by necrotic tissue and poor blood supply in wound
• Rusty nails when nails penetrate the foot at wound site
• Skin popping, drug addict to inject drugs into skin form scars depressed,
irregular, and circular; hyper- or hypopigmented
• Deep seated wound or stab wound which is penetrating trauma to the skin
• Bike accident
• Neonatal tetanus contaminated umbilicus or circumcision wound

7. PATHOGENESIS
• Spores germinate under anaerobic condition in the puncture wound.
• Tetanus toxin (tetanuspasmin) exotoxin produce by vegetative cells (actively
growing) at wound site.
• Retrograde or intra axonally transport to CNS specially spinal cord,
• Protease or polypeptide toxin that cleave snare proteins involved in release
of inhibitory neurotransmitters
• Bind to ganglioside receptors glycosphingolipids present in the membranes
of neuronal
• Block the inhibitory mediators GABA and glycine from renshaw cells from
spinal neurons at spinal synapses

8. CHARACTERISTICS
•Gram positive rod
•Obligate Anaerobic
•Terminal spore (Spore forming at the
one end)
•Look like tennis racket

9. LABORATORY DIAGNOSIS
•Clinical diagnosis primarily history, and
the signs and symptoms
•Rarely isolated organism

10. TREATMENT
•Hyper immune human globulin to
neutralize toxin
•Spasmolytic drugs i.e Diazepam (valium)
•Penicillin G (No significant resistance to
penicillin)

11. PREVENTION
• Toxoid vaccine (formaldehyde treated toxin )
• Given to children in combination with diphtheria
toxoid and acellular pertussis vaccine (DTaP)
• Passive active immunization ( if patient is injured and
not immunized, give hyper immune globulin plus
tetanus toxoid at different sites in the body)
• Give tetanus toxoid booster every 10 years
• Debride wound removal of dead, damaged, or

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