title: Prevalence of tetanus immunity in the Egyptian population.
abstract: Our aim was to determine the level of tetanus immunity in the general Egyptian population. The surveyed population consisted of 709 healthy subjects from five regions of Egypt, 2 month to 105 years of age. We used an ELISA assay to determine titers of anti-tetanus IgG. According to the widely used criteria, 31.7% was susceptible to tetanus (IgG level < 0.15 IU/ml), 15.7% protection (0.15-1.0 IU/ml), and 52.6% > or = 1.0 IU/ml). The results revealed that the majority (68.3%) population from 2 months to 50 years had a protective level of IgG against tetanus. The level of susceptibility increases with age until it reaches 90.3% Significantly, more males (23.7%) unprotected against tetanus. Our results suggest that monitoring immunization status and administering the tetanus vaccine as required are essential to insure adequate and long-lasting antibody levels.
authors.affiliation: Protein Research Department, GEBRI, Mubarak City for Scientific Research and Biotechnology Application, New Borg El-Arab, Alexandria, Egypt. redwan@scripps.edu
authors.forename: El-Rashdy M
authors.initials: el-RM
authors.lastname: Redwan
authors.forename: Mostafa K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Al-Awady
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003017:Clostridium tetani / Q000276:immunology*; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D004534:Egypt / Q000453:epidemiology; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood*; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009500:Neutralization Tests; D012494:Sampling Studies; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D013742:Tetanus / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D007074:Immunoglobulin G