The very first history of tetanus, this book ranges in coverage from antiquity to the 21st century. Whereas modern writings on tetanus appear as public-health guidelines, this study uniquely fills an informational gap in the history of the disease. It constitutes the missing prologue to a narrative that began more than 2,000 years ago. The book shows in detail how original scientific papers led to great discoveries. These milestones include the 1884 unearthing of Clostridium tetani, the bacterial source of the tetanus neurotoxin, and its isolation in 1889; the discovery of toxoid immunity in 1897-1898; the identification of a hemolytic co-toxin in 1899; the development of antitoxins in 1890-1892; their employment during World War I; research on passive and active immunization in the 1920s; and the management of tetanus during natural disasters in the developing world.

Case reports and scientific papers, some translated into English for the first time, demonstrate that tetanus was evaluated from many perspectives, from nosology to immunology. The chapters and subsections reveal how investigations developed along parallel lines, ultimately converging with cross-fertilizing effect at various points in time. The early research on tetanus, c. 1884-1924, relates how it was transformed from a lethal into a preventable disease.