Epidemiology of tetanus in Italy in years 1971-2000.
The incidence of reported tetanus in Italy decreased from 0.5/100,000 in the 1970s to 0.2/100,000 in the 1990 s. During this period of time, the case-fatality ratio decreased from 68% to 39%. Italy has the highest reported number of tetanus cases in European countries. Elderly women are the most affected: the proportion of women aged over 64 years among cases has increased from 60% in the 1970s to 76% in the 1990s. Vaccination campaigns need to be conducted to target this group, and the surveillance of tetanus has to be improved to identify additional groups of population at risk.
Pedalino
B
B
Laboratorio di Epidemiologia e Biostatistica, Reparto di Malattie Infettive, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Roma, Italy.
Cotter
B
B
Ciofi degli Atti
M
M
Mandolini
D
D
Parroccini
S
S
Salmaso
S
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011159:Population Surveillance; D013742:Tetanus / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000517:prevention & control; D014611:Vaccination