Volume 18, Number 10—October 2012
From the Greek tetanos (“tension,” from teinein, “to stretch”), an often fatal infectious disease caused by the anaerobic bacillus Clostridium tetani. Tetanus was well known to the ancients; Greek physician Aretaeus wrote in the first century
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Tetanus. In: Epidemiology and prevention of vaccine-preventable diseases. Atlanta: The Centers; 2012. p. 291–300.
- Dorland’s Illustrated Medical Dictionary. 32nd ed. Philadelphia: Elsevier Saunders; 2012.
- Pearce JM. Notes on tetanus (lockjaw).J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1996;60:332.
- Reddy P, Bleck TP. Clostridium tetani (tetanus). In: Mandell GL, Bennett JE, Dolin R, editors. Principles and practices of infectious diseases. 7th ed. Philadelphia: Churchill Livingstone; 2010. p. 3091–6.
- World Health Organization. Neonatal tetanus. October 4, 2011 [cited 2012 Aug 27]. http://www.who.int/immunization_monitoring/diseases/neonatal_tetanus/en/index.html
Suggested citation for this article: Etymologia: Tetanus. Emerg Infect Dis [Internet]. 2012 Oct [date cited]. http://dx.doi.org/10.3201/eid1810.ET1810
- Page created: October 23, 2012
- Page last updated: October 23, 2012
- Page last reviewed: October 23, 2012
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID)
Office of the Director (OD)