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Maja Divjak, Adam Hunt, Ryan Granger, David Donovan, Jacinta Duncan (Gene Technology Access Centre, Melbourne, Australia; Dead on Sound, Melbourne, Australia; New Foundations Medical Mission, Cambridge, United Kingdom)
Tetanus is rarely seen in most developed nations and as a result, secondary students are unfamiliar with tetanus pathology and why vaccination is important. In tune with an increasingly digitally-focussed student cohort, we have created a 3D animation that explores the process of tetanus infection. The animation illustrates how tetanus spores can be introduced into the body where they germinate to produce living bacteria, which grow and divide and release a potent toxin. The tetanus toxin inhibits control of our motor neurons in the spinal cord, which in turn cannot control our voluntary muscles, causing severe convulsive spasms. In this image we see the result of the tetanus toxin affecting our spinal motor neurons (teal). The interneurons (lilac), which normally control the motor neurons, are unable to switch them off and instead the motor neurons are all firing constantly with a glowing electrical impulse. At the other end of the neurons, where they contact the muscle (not shown), the constant firing causes muscle spasms. These spasms are extremely painful and death often occurs due to respiratory failure or cardiac arrest. Tetanus is completely preventable by immunisation