Bronchoaspiration as a possible cause in a case of tetanus. A reminder on the importance of adulthood immunizations

Although preventable by immunization tetanus still takes a large death toll , mostly in developing countries, where adult population is often unprotect ed and opportune medical care unavailable. We present a case of tetanus in an elderly patient with bronchoaspiration pneumonia after a near-drowning i ncident, in which no objective entry site could be suspected with as much t emporal relation as the bronchoaspiration incident. Bronchoaspiration of or ganic matter and feces provides both a source of the causative agent and an adequate polimicrobial environment for the development of the disease. It is under such conditions that we propose this unusual entry site as the cau se of tetanus in our patient. Special emphasis is made on the importance of adulthood immunization programs and how incidents like this one should be taken into account in the overall care provided to the elderly population.