I was, I felt, "forced" to get a tetanus shot when I went to the emergency room for a broken hand -- and given what I found out later was blatantly false information about the risk of gettting tetanus (in fact, tetanus is very very rare -- almost non-existent in the U.S. and death from tetanus is virtually nil unless you're an IV - heroin - drug user or diabetic with deep skin ulcers.)

Despite my questioning the need for it, the nurse gave the shot to me and I allowed it only because I had not seen the doctor yet and have had situations where the medical personal would get haughty and angry when treating me if I questioned anything they did. And, I thought, maybe my body can fight the side effects of the shot since I have always had excellent health and am rarely ever ill -- had not been to the hospital for anything for more than 20 years.

From the beginning, my fingers were very stiff on the broken hand (right), and I just assumed it was because of the fall that had caused the fracture in that hand. But I exercised the fingers throughout the day while the splint was on so that I didn't lose any flexibility/muscle.

When I removed the splint after the required 4 weeks, I found that the fingers were still stiff and could not be fully straightened or fully closed (clenched). So I worked on trying to exercise and stretch the fingers both ways. However, the fingers got WORSE instead of better. Then the joints of the fingers started swelling and especially the fourth and 5th fingers started to curve around.

With the inflammation and pain, it seemed I had developed Arthritis -- which I had never had before! (I am a 54 year old woman in perfect health otherwise).

So I searched on the Internet under "Tetanus vaccine and arthritis" and found MANY MANY references to people who had suddenly developed Arthritis after receiving the tetanus shot. I feel that this is vastly unreported, as most doctors will tell you that breaking a bone or fracturing a bone may cause arthritis, when in fact medical personnel are trained to automatically give tetanus vaccines for all cases of bone fracture/break. So it is potentially the SHOT and not the injury that must be blamed.

Now my right (favored) hand has lost, I would estimate, around 70 percent of strength and 50 percent of function since I can no longer fully grip anything (the fingers don't close), nor can I flex the hand the other way to help myself rise from a chair or sitting position (if I sit on the floor or grass now, I have to roll over and grab something to pull myself up with my left arm). Also, the Arthritis seems to be spreading to the other fingers and now my left hand is aching and swollen in the wrist area as if that has also been affected.

I have always been very strong and athletic for a middle-aged lady and this has been very horrifying and depressing -- especially since this is something THAT COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED -- by NOT having the tetanus shot that I never wanted in the first place.

If you have developed arthritis after a tetanus shot, please respond. I'm trying to get more evidence to convince the emergency room personnel NOT to give routine tetanus shots WITHOUT providing any information on the potential side effects and risks of the vaccine vs. the TRUE statistics on risks (almost non-existent) of a tetanus infection.