Usual symptoms

• Tetanus often starts with a stiff jaw or neck, with pain in the neck, shoulder and back muscles.

Common symptoms

• Some people get violent, painful spasms (cramps) in all of the muscles of their body. These spasms can be so strong that they break bones or tear muscles. These spasms can affect muscles in a person’s throat, prevent them from breathing, and stop their hearts from beating properly.
• Tetanus can also cause lung infection (pneumonia) and blood clots.
• About 2 per cent of people with tetanus will die. The risk is greatest for the very young and the very old.

In Australia, children receive a combined vaccine (also called ‘hexavalent’), which strengthens immunity to tetanus, as well as diphtheria, pertussis, Hib , polio and hepatitis B.

It is recommended that children get a vaccine that protects against tetanus at two months, four months, six months, 18 months, four years. 

It is also recommended that adolescents are vaccinated at the beginning of high school, around 12-13 years of age (Year 7 or equivalent).

It is important that children get all their vaccinations on time to ensure they have the best possible protection against infectious diseases.

The vaccine works by ‘training’ your child’s immune system to recognise and get rid of the tetanus toxin. The vaccine contains antigens, which are tiny, harmless fragments of the tetanus toxin. 

When your immune system detects the antigens in the vaccine, it produces proteins called antibodies. These antibodies are like soldiers that recognise and remember the tetanus toxin. If your child is ever exposed to the real tetanus bacteria and their toxins, their immune system will recognise them quickly and stop them using the antibodies it created after vaccination.²

The tetanus vaccine does not contain any blood products and is not a ‘live’ vaccine.  The antigens are made synthetically and are not the real bacteria. They cannot replicate themselves or cause disease.

Almost all people (up to 100 per cent) who have their first three doses of the tetanus vaccine develop enough infection-fighting cells (antibodies) to protect them against tetanus.³ 

To keep your child's protection against tetanus up to date, your child is recommended to have another dose of a tetanus vaccine (a ‘booster’) when they are a teenager.³ They will also need further boosters as adults.³

No, there is no risk that your child will catch tetanus because the vaccine does not contain the live bacteria that causes the disease. Instead, it contains an inactive part of the tetanus bacteria that trains your child’s immune system to recognise and fight the infection.

• Up to 33 per cent of children who have vaccines that protect against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), Hib, or polio experience redness at the injection site that lasts up to a few days.
• About 10 to 13 per cent of people who have vaccines that protect against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), Hib or hepatitis B experience mild swelling or pain at the injection site that lasts one or two days. 
• Up to 20 per cent of children who have vaccines that protect against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), Hib, or polio develop a mild fever that lasts one or two days.  
• About 5 to 10 per cent of babies who have vaccines that protect against polio experience decreased appetite.
• About 2 per cent of people who get booster doses of a vaccine that protect against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (whooping cough) get a sore red, swollen arm. The swelling starts in the first two days after vaccination. It lasts for one to seven days and then gets better. 
• About 1 per cent of children who have a vaccine that protects against polio get a hard lump at the injection site that lasts a few days or weeks. 

• Babies who get a fever (for any reason) occasionally experience a fit (febrile convulsion) that lasts from a few seconds to a few minutes. Febrile convulsions don’t have any long-term effects on a child’s health or development.
• Some people who get vaccines that protect against hepatitis B experience nausea or aches in their muscles or joints in the days afterwards.
• About 0.0032 per cent of children aged 12 months or under who get a vaccine that protects against pertussis (whooping cough) experience hypotonic-hyporesponsive episodes (HHE). These children get very pale, go limp, and don’t respond to their surroundings. Their lips and fingernails can also turn blue. Most reactions last less than 30 minutes and can occur anytime from vaccination up to about 48 hours after vaccination.⁴ HHEs don’t have any long-term effects on children’s health.
• About 0.0001 per cent of people have an allergic reaction following vaccination  that affects their whole body, called anaphylaxis. This reaction usually happens within 15 minutes of getting the vaccination and can be treated with an injection of adrenaline. People who have this reaction usually recover quickly and don’t experience any long-term effects.

Tetanus rates began to decline after the introduction of a tetanus vaccine in 1953 and is now very rare in Australia.^5,6