What is the Difference Between Tetanus and Strychnine Poisoning

The key difference between tetanus and strychnine poisoning is that tetanus is an infection caused by a bacterium known as Clostridium tetani while strychnine poisoning is a poisoning caused by an alkaloid known as strychnine, which is derived from the seeds of the tree Strychnos nux-vomica.

Tetanus and strychnine poisoning are two medical conditions that mimic each other in their symptoms. Strychnine poisoning is the only medical condition that truly mimics tetanus. This is because typical features such as conscious convulsion/spinal seizures are very common in both strychnine poisoning and tetanus. However, strychnine poisoning is not an infectious disease, while tetanus is an infectious disease.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Tetanus 
3. What is Strychnine Poisoning
4. Similarities – Tetanus and Strychnine Poisoning
5. Tetanus vs Strychnine Poisoning in Tabular Form
6. Summary – Tetanus vs Strychnine Poisoning

What is Tetanus?

Tetanus is a lethal infection that is caused by a bacterium known as Clostridium tetani. It is also called lockjaw disease. This is because tetanus mainly affects the jaw and neck muscles. When this bacterium invades the body, it produces a poison or toxin that causes painful muscle contractions. Tetanus is a serious disease that specifically affects the nervous system. Severe complications from tetanus are life-threatening. The average time from infection to the appearance of signs and symptoms is normally 10 days. The incubation time period may range from 3 to 21 days. The signs and symptoms of generalized tetanus include painful muscle spasms and stiff, immovable muscles in the jaw, tensed muscles around the lips, persistent grin, painful spasms, difficulty swallowing, and rigid abdominal muscles. As tetanus progresses, other signs and symptoms may appear, such as high blood pressure, low blood pressure, rapid heart rate, fever, and extreme sweating. The complication of tetanus may include breathing problems, blockage of a lung artery, pneumonia, broken bones, and death.

Moreover, tetanus can be diagnosed through physical examination, medical and vaccination history, signs and symptoms of muscle spasms, muscle rigidity and pain, and laboratory test for detecting the bacteria. Furthermore, treatments for tetanus include wound care, medications (antitoxins, sedatives, vaccination, antibiotics, and other drugs), supportive therapies, lifestyle, and home remedies (proper wound care).

What is Strychnine Poisoning?

Strychnine poisoning is a poisoning of alkaloids known as strychnine, derived from the seeds of the tree Strychnos nux-vomica. Strychnine is an odourless, colourless crystalline powder found in naturally occurring alkaloid forms as well as in commercially produced salts. It is also used as a rodenticide. However, unintentional toxicity can occur due to exposure to this chemical present in certain Chinese and Cambodian herbal medicines and adulterated drugs. The symptoms of strychnine poisoning include involuntary muscle contraction, facial muscle spasms (elevated eyebrows and open sustained grin), opisthotonus, continuous convulsions, lactic acidosis, hyperthermia, hemodynamic instability, rhabdomyolysis, and postictal depression. Complications include death caused by asphyxiation, which is a result of the paralysis of the neural pathways that control breathing. Death usually occurs after 2 to 3 hours of exposure.

Strychnine poisoning can be diagnosed through historical information and laboratory tests such as serum electrolytes, BUN (blood urea nitrogen), creatine, CPK (creatine phosphokinase), blood gasses, lactate, and urinalysis. The treatments for strychnine poisoning may include keeping patients in quiet, dark rooms to control seizures,  using activated charcoal infusion that absorbs poison, using anticonvulsants like phenobarbital or diazepam, using muscle relaxants dantrolene, administrating tannic acid, and anaesthetise patients with chloroform to precipitate and worn off strychnine.

What are the Similarities Between Tetanus and Strychnine Poisoning?

• Tetanus and strychnine poisoning are two medical conditions mimicking each other in their symptoms.
• Strychnine poisoning is the only medical condition that truly mimics tetanus.
• Typical features such as conscious convulsion/spinal seizures are very common in both strychnine poisoning and tetanus.
• Both conditions may cause life-threatening complications.
• Both conditions can be diagnosed through physical examination and laboratory tests.
• They are treated through specific medications.

What is the Difference Between Tetanus and Strychnine Poisoning?

Tetanus is an infection caused by a bacterium known as Clostridium tetani while strychnine poisoning is a poisoning of alkaloids derived from the seeds of the tree Strychnos nux-vomica. Thus, this is the key difference between tetanus and strychnine poisoning. Furthermore, the complication of tetanus may include breathing problems, blockage of a lung artery, pneumonia, broken bones, and death. On the other hand, the complications from strychnine poisoning may include death caused by asphyxiation due to paralysis of the neural pathways that control breathing.

The below infographic presents the differences between tetanus and strychnine poisoning in tabular form for side-by-side comparison.

Summary – Tetanus vs Strychnine Poisoning

Tetanus and strychnine poisoning are two medical conditions that mimic each other in their symptoms, such as conscious convulsion/spinal seizures. Tetanus is an infection caused by a bacterium known as Clostridium tetani. Strychnine poisoning is a poisoning of strychnine derived from the seeds of the tree Strychnos nux-vomica. So, this is the key difference between tetanus and strychnine poisoning.

Reference:

1. “Tetanus.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research.
2. “Strychnine Poisoning.” An Overview | ScienceDirect Topics.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Tetanus bacilli (clostrium tetani)” By Vaccines at Sanofi (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) via Flickr
2. “Strychnine formula” (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia