Tetanus Resulting From Foreign Body in the Nose

This case is reported because of the rarity in the literature of tetanus resulting from a foreign body in the nose. As no demonstrable portal of entry can be found in from 20 to 35% of the cases,1it is possible that foreign bodies in the nose have been overlooked as the site of infection. In 1940, Spaeth,2in summarizing 33 cases of tetanus treated at Iowa University Hospital, reported a case in a 21/2-year-old child, who had mild symptoms of tetanus, possibly due to pebbles in the nose, and who recovered. In 1950, Linker, Rosenthal, and Golomb3reported a case from Fordham Hospital, New York City, in which a 17-month-old Negro child was admitted with profuse nasal discharge and weakness. Frequent irrigations brought a paper match stick out of one nostril. The child died from tetanus the fifth day after admission. Clostridium tetani was cultured from