title: Tetanus immunity among pregnant women attending antenatal care in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
abstract: This study was conducted to investigate immunity to tetanus among pregnant women with verbal histories or documentation of having been vaccinated under the current five-dose tetanus toxoid (TT) schedule. It examined sera from 176 pregnant women attending antenatal care at Muhimbili Medical Centre in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Tetanus antitoxin level of 0.1 IU/ml was considered protective. Our findings show that 94.9% of women had tetanus antitoxin > or = 0.1 IU/ml. Multivariate analysis revealed that time after last vaccination, TT doses received and TT vaccination status explained 7.5%, 5.7% and 2.3% of variations in tetanus antitoxin levels respectively. Pregnant women with non-protective levels of tetanus antitoxin (5.1%) pose great risks of neonatal tetanus to their newborns and are also susceptible to maternal tetanus. Proper keeping of TT vaccination records is vitally important to avoid hyper-immunisation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Muhimbili University College of Health Sciences, P.O. Box 65007, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. saboud@muchs.ac.tz
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aboud
authors.forename: E F
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Lyamuya
authors.forename: E K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Kristoffersen
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Matre
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007115:Immunization Schedule; D010298:Parity; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D011295:Prenatal Care; D013636:Tanzania; D013742:Tetanus / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000635:transmission; D013743:Tetanus Antitoxin / Q000097:blood; D013745:Tetanus Toxoid / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000276:immunology; D014611:Vaccination
chemical_list: D013743:Tetanus Antitoxin; D013745:Tetanus Toxoid