Health Update: Gardeners, beware

OLD PEOPLE should be immunised by their GPs against tetanus, especially if they are keen gardeners. A report in General Practitioner points out that immunisation only began in the Fifties and many old people, particularly women, have never been immunised. Tetanus is a sometimes fatal disease of the nervous system caused by a bacterium which lives mainly in the soil and can infect minor cuts and wounds. Three recent cases have been reported in patients over 60.