Characteristics, Management, and Outcomes of Tetanus Cases in a Referral Center in Senegal, between 2010 and 2017

Tetanus is an infection caused by Clostridium tetani. The disease has been described from the earliest medical literature. Despite this old knowledge, the existence of a vaccine, and the progress made in pathophysiology and treatment, tetanus remains a real public health problem, particularly in developing countries. Tetanus in children and adults is still a frequent cause of hospitalization in the Infectious and Tropical Diseases Department (SMIT) of the Fann National University Hospital (CHNU). We conducted this study with the main objective of carrying out a situational analysis of tetanus at SMIT from 2010 to 2017. We recorded 706 cases of tetanus in a total of 8123 hospitalized patients. The median age of the patients was 23 years [1 - 90 years]. The sex ratio (M/F) was 4/1. More than half (58.78%) came from suburban areas. The population was most frequently made up of students (24%) or manual workers (22.1%). At least one comorbidity was present in 107 patients (15.15%). The absence of a vaccination record was found in 99.56%. The main portal of entry was integumentary (83.3%), post-circumcision (5.7%) and otogenous (4%). Tetanus was generalized in 93.9% of cases. The main signs of tetanus found were trismus and dysphagia. Patients were most frequently classified as stage II (78.7%). Antibiotic therapy was based on metronidazole (51.41%). Anti-tetanus serotherapy was carried out by sub-occipital administration in 97.6%. Tracheostomy was performed in 48 patients. Complications occurred in 226 patients (32.01%). The main complications were respiratory (53.98%), infectious (45.13%) and cardiovascular (41.59%). The average delay in hospitalization was 3.6 ± 3.4 days. The mean length of hospital stay was 11.9 ± 8.2 days. The hospital case-lethality rate was 18.98%. Despite the decline in cases over the years in our country, tetanus remains a public health problem because of its prevalence, severity, and lethality.