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Tetanus (Clostridium tetani)
1990 Case Definition

Tetanus (Clostridium tetani)
1990 Case Definition
NOTE: A surveillance case definition is a set of uniform criteria used to define a disease for public health surveillance. Surveillance case definitions enable public health officials to classify and count cases consistently across reporting jurisdictions. Surveillance case definitions are not intended to be used by healthcare providers for making a clinical diagnosis or determining how to meet an individual patient’s health needs.

CSTE Position Statement(s)

  • 1996-18

Clinical Description

Acute onset of hypertonia and/or painful muscular contractions (usually of the muscles of the jaw and neck) and generalized muscle spasms without other apparent medical cause (as reported by a health professional)

Case Classification

Confirmed

A case that meets the clinical case definition

Comments

The 1990 case definition appearing on this page was re-published in the 1996 CSTE position statement 1996-18. Thus, the 1996 and 1990 versions of the case definition are identical.

Related Case Definition(s)

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Office of Public Health Data, Surveillance, and Technology

National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS)

NNDSS receives and shares case data from state, local, and territorial health departments to help public health monitor, control, and prevent serious diseases.

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