Case study

Case study

Answer 1

Vivienne caught the disease when she was gardening. The bacteria came from microorganisms present in soil and earth. These bacteria cause Tetanus in her body.

Tetanus toxin is linked to the nervous system. The victim then feels muscular contractures first at the face, and contractures are widespread. The pain can be very intense throughout the body and in spite of care, one in two cases the patient dies from suffocation or cardiac arrest. Primary immunization consists of three doses of vaccine from two months to one month interval between each dose followed by a booster one year later. A booster dose is recommended at 6 years, eleven and sixteen to twenty years. Booster tetanus is recommended for an instant treatment of bacteria and contains high degree of substance that reacts against tetanus germs. It is vaccinated to those patients who don't remember their last tetanus vaccines dose (Wilson, 2006).

Answer 2

Vivienne's wound was slightly red, swollen, warm to touch, Purulent and odorous discharge. This indicates that her wound is inflamed and has started healing. Usually wound starts healing when injury occurs but slowness of healing speed and nature of regenerated tissue depends on the nature and type of wound. The stages of healing involve inflammation, repair and maturation.

The inflammatory phase

The inflammatory phase starts at the time the injury occurs, and its duration is approximately three days, depending on the physiological conditions. Early vascular and cellular reactions consist of coagulation and hemostasis and conclude after approximately 10 minutes have elapsed. The first goal of reparative processes is to stop the bleeding. Upon injury from damaged cells release vasoactive substances that cause constriction of the blood vessels (vasoconstriction) preventing further blood loss until the platelet agglomeration get a first vascular obliteration. The circulating platelets in blood plasma to adhere to the injured vessel site of injury forming a plug, closes at first provisionally vessels. The coagulation system is activated through complex platelet agglomeration process, to thereby permanently close the site of injury. Inflammation is a complex defense reaction of the organism to the action of different provenance noxae mechanical, physical, chemical or bacterial. The goal is the elimination of noxious agents and its inactivation, clean tissue and establishes optimum conditions for subsequent proliferative processes. Inflammation is characterized by four symptoms: the rubescencia (rubor), heat, swelling (tumor), and pain.

Repair

In the second phase of wound healing cell proliferation predominantly in order to achieve vascular reconstitution and repopulate the defective area by granulation tissue. This phase begins around the fourth day since the injury occurred. The wound healing cannot progress without new vessels, as they must ensure an adequate supply of blood, oxygen and nutrients. The vascular reconstruction starts from intact vessels found in the wound edge. Through the stimulation of growth factors, the epithelial cell layer lining the vessel wall (endothelium), are able to degrade their basal membrane, to proceed to mobilize and migrate to the injured area and adjoining ...