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Illnesses

Tetanus

Tetanus
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 5 to 6
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   7.06

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    frostbite, swallowing, abdomen, bloodstream, bodily, diabetics, intensive, effective, physician, unit, depression, diphtheria, rarely, affected, therefore, especially
     content words:    United States

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Tetanus
By Jennifer Kenny 		  
1     Where have you heard the term tetanus before? You probably heard it in the doctor's office when your physician was talking about shots. Did you ever wonder what tetanus was?
 
2     Tetanus is a serious disease. It affects the nervous system. It is rare, and it is not contagious. Most importantly, it is preventable.
 
3     What causes tetanus? The bacterium Clostridium tetani does. It is a bacterium that can live without oxygen. It is found all over the world. Most likely, someone would come across it in soil, dust, and manure. It enters the body through a skin wound. That wound can be small, for example, from a pinprick or a scratch. However, in the United States, most of the time it enters the body through a deep cut such as the kind one experiences if he or she steps on a nail. Nonsterile needles for drug use and body piercing are also a problem. Burns, frostbite, or any injury involving dead skin are especially likely to cause tetanus.

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