Ceftriaxone, Tetanus Toxoid and a Probable Cause of Death - Essay Example

Catfish fins are known to have poisons that cause inflammation, but it is the bacterial infections following the puncture that bring about these symptoms: “severe pain, reduced blood flow, muscle spasms, and respiratory distress” (Ross, 2009). These symptoms somehow tie up with what the man in the case study had: spasms and hyperventilation, which is a sign of respiratory distress and a possible result of reduced blood flow. The immediate cause of these symptoms must have been the bacterial infection that followed after the fin punctured the man’s skin or if pieces of the fin probably broke off in the wound (Ross, 2009).

Nevertheless, it is also possible that catfish venom alone produced the “muscle spasms and respiratory distress” (“Venomous Catfish,” 2009). There are no documented cases, however, of deaths from catfish venom or that it causes encephalitis. In fact, the symptoms of the man before his death – hallucinations and muscle spasms – were similar to those caused by rabies (“Rabies,” 2011). Rabies, however, could not have been caused by catfish.Moreover, although Ceftriaxone was used, its effectiveness could not be guaranteed since it is used only in cases of encephalitis caused by bacteria, and this particular case may have been caused by a virus.

There was no mention of any diagnostic test conducted by the attending physician before the patient was given Ceftriaxone, and the medication was given only based on the mere information that he was punctured by a catfish fin. Therefore, Ceftriaxone may not have been able to remedy the situation if it had been actually viral. The tetanus toxoid, on the other hand, was used to treat or prevent possible tetanus that may have been caused by the puncture. There are cases, however, where the tetanus toxoid may have caused side effects such as hyperventilation, tetanic spasms, meningoencephalitis, damage to the cranial nerves causing an inability to swallow, and most of all – death through anaphylactic shock (Gaublomme, n.d.).

All these symptoms match those of the man – hyperventilation, muscle spasms, and difficulty swallowing. The tetanus toxoid might have therefore been responsible for the man’s symptoms and consequent death. After all, encephalitis may develop in a person as a result of an “allergic reaction to vaccinations” (“Encephalitis,” 2010). Ceftriaxone, Tetanus Toxoid, Granulocytosis and a Probable Cause of Death If granulocytosis occurs as a result of bacterial infection, then the condition of the man in the case study was probably bacterial in origin and not viral.

Rabies could not, therefore, have been the cause. Besides, based on several websites, rabies is associated with agranulocytosis and not granulocytosis (“Maine CDC,” 2011). Encephalitis was the next possibility because a subtype, paraneoplastic limbic encephalitis, is associated with granulocytosis (Pelosof & Gerber, 2010). Nevertheless, this is not bacterial in origin.However, if there is one other thing that could have caused granulocytosis, it must have been the tetanus toxoid for it can cause eosinophilic granulocytosis (Tavassoli, 1989, p. 38). Besides, the symptoms of the allergic reaction to tetanus toxoids include hyperventilation, tetanic spasms, and anaphylactic shock, which were all the symptoms exhibited by the man before he died (Gaublomme, n.d.).

These symptoms are characteristic of encephalitis (“Encephalitis,” 2010). Furthermore, it is possible that an allergic reaction to tetanus toxoid caused the encephalitis (“Encephalitis,” 2010). Ceftriaxone, on the other hand, was a treatment for bacterial encephalitis (“Encephalitis Treatment,” 2011). The cause of the man’s death, however, was probably not bacterial encephalitis since encephalitis is not commonly associated with granulocytosis, except for paraneoplastic limbic encephalitis, which is actually not caused by bacteria (“Encephalitis Treatment,” 2011).

Another possibility that the Ceftriaxone shot was ineffective was that the encephalitis if it was indeed caused by a biological organism, was probably viral since “most cases are viral in origin” and that the rate of occurrence is only “1 case per 200,000 population in the United States” (Lazoff et al., 2011). Although it was possible, it was probably not bacterial encephalitis that killed the man but a viral one. Nevertheless, due to the fact that granulocytosis is not commonly associated with viral encephalitis, the evidence on the tetanus toxoid as the cause of encephalitis is heavier and would, therefore, if proven right, imply that Ceftriaxone was useless as a treatment for the man.