> So I wonder where we can get some stats on how many people get it in an average year? I've never heard of one. Back in the 30's, when they called it "lockjaw" we heard a lot of talk about it, but even then, I never heard of anybody getting it.

A very quick Google search found the following information: due to widespread immunisation, which started after WW2, there are now 50 or fewer cases of tetanus reported in the USA per year. 11% are fatal (a big improvement on the 30% fatality which was common during the '40s), but even today most cases require extensive hospital treatment (for months, in some cases). In 1950, there were about 600 cases in the USA. This is approximately 0.4 cases per 100,000 people, which probably explains why Howard never heard of anybody getting it. The provisional figure for 2001 was 27 cases.

Again, this low figure is due to immunisation. As an example, the worldwide death toll in 1998 from neonatal tetanus (ie, when infants are infected through cutting of the umbilical cord, due to the mother not being immunised) was 270,000. In the USA there have been only two cases in the last 13 years, and in both cases the mother had not been immunised.