4 ms·

Of course the immune system responds to Clostridium tetani, and that response is modified by prior administration of an appropriate vaccine. Do you mean to say

• beagle3 6y ago
  The vaccine is to the toxin produced by the bacteria, not to the bacteria itself; supposedly, by the time the body manages to kill the bacteria (even if already recognized by the immune system), there is too much toxin in the system. It is administered, and is likely working, but never went through the rigorous testing we now do for vaccines; furthermore, after it was introduced, tetanus incidence decreased considerably also in places that did not use a vaccine. The history of the tetanus vaccine is not what I expected when I started looking at it.
  • soperj 6y ago
    >The vaccine is to the toxin produced by the bacteria, not to the bacteria itself; supposedly, by the time the body manages to kill the bacteria (even if already recognized by the immune system), there is too much toxin in the system. I'm not an immunologist, but I don't think you're correct here. >It is administered, and is likely working, but never went through the rigorous testing we now do for vaccines; furthermore, after it was introduced, tetanus incidence decreased considerably also in places that did not use a vaccine. The history of the tetanus vaccine is not what I expected when I started looking at it. Deaths worldwide from Tetanus didn't decrease substantially until the 80s when the vaccine starting being administered everywhere. So don't know what you're talking about.