Severe Tetanus Following a Rooster-Peck Injury Requiring Nasotracheal Intubation: A Case Report
Robin White, Hardeep Singh, Kelsey Craver, Rebecca Cranston, Kelsey Hodge, Elizabeth Vandervort · 2026
Read Severe Tetanus Following a Rooster-Peck Injury Requiring Nasotracheal Intubation: A Case Report by Robin White, Hardeep Singh, Kelsey Craver, Rebecca Cranston, Kelsey Hodge, Elizabeth Vandervort (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/PMC13518035.txt.
Description
White and colleagues reported a 2026 case of severe tetanus that began with a rooster peck to a finger. The patient was a 65-year-old poultry hobbyist with type two diabetes and no tetanus vaccination in over ten years. Tetanus toxin, made by bacteria in soil and manure, blocks the nerves' braking signals and causes rigid, spasming muscles, and animal injuries are a rarely recognized route of infection.
White describes progressive jaw stiffness, abnormal tongue sensation, and slurred speech at presentation, with scans ruling out stroke and deep neck infection. Worsening respiratory distress needed a breathing tube passed through the nose with a camera's help, followed later by a tracheostomy, an opening in the windpipe. Despite antibiotics, tetanus immunoglobulin, and sedation, spasms returned whenever sedation lightened. The authors use the case to press vaccination awareness for under-immunized agricultural workers and early airway planning in severe disease.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Robin White, Hardeep Singh, Kelsey Craver, Rebecca Cranston, Kelsey Hodge, Elizabeth Vandervort |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 11 KB |
| LICENSE | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |