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About this tool
Check whether a tetanus booster is due from your last dose date, using the 10-year routine rule and the 5-year rule for dirty wounds.
This checker tells you whether a tetanus booster is due by measuring the gap between your last tetanus-containing dose and today against the two intervals used in tetanus wound management: 10 years for routine cover after a complete primary course, and 5 years when the wound is dirty, deep, a puncture, a burn or a crush injury. It also flags the cases where a single booster is not enough — fewer than three lifetime doses or an unknown history, which call for completing the primary course and, for contaminated wounds, tetanus immune globulin alongside the vaccine. It is for anyone who has just cut themselves on something rusty or muddy, or who simply wants to know when their next Td or Tdap is due.
Open Tetanus Booster Due Checker on AltFTool — it loads instantly in your browser.
Add your input to the workspace.
Adjust the options until the result looks right.
Copy or download the output and put it to work.
Applies the 10-year routine rule or the 5-year dirty-wound rule automatically from the wound type you pick.
Shows when TIG is indicated as well as the vaccine — contaminated wounds with fewer than 3 doses or an unknown history.
Returns the calendar date your next booster falls due and how many days away it is, not a vague 'about ten years'.
Every 10 years once you have completed the 3-dose primary course. The clock runs from your most recent tetanus-containing dose (Td or Tdap), so a dose given on 12 March 2018 puts the next routine booster on 12 March 2028.
Yes — a puncture wound falls under the 5-year rule, so at 6 years since your last dose a booster is indicated. Rust itself is not the problem; the risk comes from soil, dust and faeces carrying Clostridium tetani spores into a deep or dirty wound.
You do not restart. If you completed 3 or more doses at any point in your life, a single booster restores protection no matter how many years have lapsed. A course only has to be completed when you have had fewer than 3 lifetime doses or your history is unknown.
TIG is ready-made antibody that gives immediate protection while the vaccine takes effect, and it is given alongside the vaccine for dirty, deep or contaminated wounds when the person has had fewer than 3 doses or an unknown vaccination history. It is not used for clean, minor wounds, and it is not needed for anyone with a documented primary course.