Tetanus: A Rare Complication of Black Tar Heroin Use

Overview

Journal Open Forum Infect Dis

Specialty Infectious Diseases

Date 2022 Feb 11

PMID 35146041

Authors

Elisa M Pichlinski

Emily Hoff

Lindsey Claire Epperson

Elizabeth Morley

James Dazhe Cao

Joby Thoppil

Steven Field

Prayag Mehta

Daniel Good

Ank E Nijhawan

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Tetanus is associated with high morbidity and mortality, although this is rarely encountered in high-income countries. We present a case of tetanus in an unvaccinated patient secondary to black tar heroin use that highlights the importance of considering tetanus in appropriate clinical contexts, harm reduction interventions, and universal tetanus vaccination campaigns.

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