Dakulala: Women more vulnerable to tetanus

By CALDRON LAEPA
WOMEN are more vulnerable to tetanus and need to be immunised, deputy health secretary Dr Paison Dakulala said.
He made the comment last weekend while touring Dirigoro village in the remote mountain fringes of Rigo, Central, with his staff from Kwikila district.
Dakulala said tetanus was spread by a bug called clostridium tetani, which entered the body through wounds and cuts.
He said when a woman was going through menstruation, she could be infected by the bug if she did not dress well or if the bugs entered during menstruation.
Tetanus infections cause muscles to tighten up and tear. It cannot be diagnosed but can be prevented with vaccines.
Dakulala said the National Health Department was carrying out the supplementary immunisation activity (SIA) all over the country.
He said the immunisation programme was very important, especially for the remote parts of the country.
He said many women in remote areas depended on traditional methodology to deliver children and mother and child faced a high risk of being infected by the tetanus bug.
He said tetanus patients could only be kept in intensive care units because the patient needed to keep in a quiet place so that noise did not shock the patient as it would cause stiffening of the muscles. 
Dakulala said Central was almost completed, with Goilala and the Kairuku-Hiri districts yet to be immunised.
About 200 women and children were immunised against polio, tetanus and measles.