The other day my 16 month old daughter got snaked by a piece of the chain link fence at school. She's got a pretty deep cut from the corner of her mouth (Thank GOD she didn't catch it IN the mouth) to about halfway up her cheek. Daycare said they washed it with soap and water, and as soon as she was home we put Neosporin on it. Well Friday morning she woke up not feeling to good, but no fever so sent her off to daycare, after putting more neosporin on the cut. We picked them up last night, and her cut is all red and a little swollen for a good area around it, and they said she ran a fever of 101 for a while (why they didn't call is beyond me right now) anyways I put Hydrogen peroxide and neosporin on it once we got home and tried to make sure it stayed clean (right next to the mouth, kinda hard when EVERYTHING goes IN the mouth at this stage!) I didn't even think about her needing a tetanus shot until last night. She still acted like she didn't feel good and was warm to the touch, so we gave her some tylenol. But she's also cutting 2 teeth that could be causing her fever. She's not acting sick (no coughing, wheezing, runny nose, etc) other than being lethargic a bit. Does she need a tetanus and can she even have one this young??? On a side note, I mentioned to the class lead that they should fix the fence, none of the teachers seemed to concerned about it (oh, we used some plyers and bent it out and down) I tried to talk to the director but she was busy so I will catch her on Monday. Oh and they waited 4 hours to call us (anything above the shoulders they have to call) after the incident happened. I would have had no problem bringing some medicine to her had I known earlier, so that needs to be discussed as well. DH is concerned about how close it was to her mouth, literally it looks like she got fish-hooked, lord knows if some other poor little kid actually DOES catch that piece of fence in the mouth.......
She should have already had a Tetnus shot--it is the "T" in the DTaP. so as long as she had that shot, she is fine. I would still get it checked, just to be sure, it could simply be infected.
Getting a a Tetanus shot after the fact will not do any good so it would be pointless to give her one now. Like the pp mentioned, if you vaccinate her, she would have already had the Tetanus vax.
I think it is within 24 hours the tetanus shot will work after the fact. Not exactly sure on 24 hours, or 48 or 12. Ring your pedi. There is a small window.
QUOTE(Lindyloo @ Apr 26 2008, 03:27 PM) [snapback]740655[/snapback] I think it is within 24 hours the tetanus shot will work after the fact. Not exactly sure on 24 hours, or 48 or 12. Ring your pedi. There is a small window. There is an immuglobin that you can give after the fact, but the actual Tetanus vax is useless. ETA: If the wound bled, then you should be fine. Tetanus is mostly dangerous with puncture wounds b/c the wound is deep and doesnt tend to bleed.
She should have already had a tetanus and those last for a few years but she might need some antibiotics if you think it's infected.
literally it looks like she got fish-hooked, lord knows if some other poor little kid actually DOES catch that piece of fence in the mouth....... [/quote] OR EYE!!! they should have fixed that right then!!! I am sorry that happened to her! bless her heart!
