Known also as lockjaw, tetanus limits a baby’s ability to feed. The rigidity spreads through the whole body, and the baby’s muscles spasm uncontrollably. A baby will need intensive nursing care and isolation in a dark and quiet room to prevent reactive spasms, hospitalised for up to a month. Untreated, some 90 per cent of affected newborns will die.
An estimated 24,000 newborns died of tetanus in 2021, according to the most recent global data available. While this figure represents a gradual decline over time, it tells us that women and girls continue to miss out on vital vaccinations, antenatal care and safe delivery care, especially in low-income countries.
Access to healthcare in South Sudan is extremely limited. MSF's hospital in Old Fangak is the only facility of its kind providing care to the 20,000 people in the immediate vicinity, as well as in villages only reachable hours away by boat. This includes maternal immunisation as part of antenatal care.
Timely protection for victims and survivors of sexual violence
The value of post-exposure vaccination is highlighted in care for sexual violence. A victim/survivor can be protected against both tetanus and hepatitis B after an assault or rape, but the window of opportunity to kickstart immunity is only 72 hours.
“We [vaccinate] every patient that had any wounds,” says Renda Kella Dhol, a clinical officer in MSF’s team in Old Fangak. “We just do it immediately to prevent the disease, because [tetanus] is really very serious.”
Hepatitis B is often transmitted through sexual contact. It is up to 100 times more infectious than HIV.