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•Many of us heard our parents tell us,
when we were growing up, that if we stepped on a rusty nail we
would get lockjaw. Well, why a rusty nail and not just any nail?
•When nails are manufactured, they are
coated with a thin film of oil that prevents them from
rusting.
•If a nail lies on the ground for any
period of time, the oil coating washes away and the nail rusts.
•The advice about stepping on a rusty
nail grew out of a time when life was more rural and the family farm
was a common setting. On a farm, a
rusty nail would have been found on the ground.
•Also on the ground would be the feces of all
the animals living on the farm.
•The Clostridia are normal inhabitants
of the intestine so their spores would also be found on the
ground.
•Putting this all together, the
conclusion was that a rusty nail was contaminated with clostridial spores
from the various animals’ feces, and thus might be carrying Clostridium
tetani
spores into one’s foot if a person stepped on such a nail.
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