DANGER OF TETANUS

Northern Advocate, 31 May 1935, Page 5

DANGER OF TETANUS

EVIDENCE AT CORONER’S COURT SYDNEY, May 29. Medical evidence about tetanus and the obscurity which often cloaked its origin was given at the City Coroner’s Court when an inquh'y was held into ihe death of Victor Thomas Jones, 18, shop assistant, of Railway Road, : St. Peters. Albert Victor Jones, father of the deceased, said that he could not suggest any way in which his son might have contracted' tetanus. Deceased had not fully recovered from pneumonia, which had afflicted him 18 months before. On April 17 last he had a tooth extracted, and afto” some soreness the wound healed. On April 29 he complained of not feeling well, and v/as treated by a doctor. On April 30 he was admitted to Sydney Hospital, where he died on May 4. Dr. Kenneth Tamworth Hughes, resident medical officer at Sydney Hospital, said that death was due to tetanus. No tetanus bacillus could be found in a wound on Jones’ right hand. There was no other wound through which infection could have occurred. Tetanus often arose through a small wound, such as one made by a pin dr needle. The bacillus generally grew in the absence of atmospheric oxygen. Dirt was not neOessary. Once tetanus had gained a firm hold, .it was practically impossible to save the sufferer. The Coroner said that he had gone into the matter with the doctor as fully as possible. In the hope that his evidence would be of some assistance to the public. The matter was a grave one. It appeared' to be almost impossible to discover the origin of tetanus, which had caused the death of several persons recently.