title: Seroprevalence of tetanus antibody in Turkish population and effectiveness of single-dose tetanus toxoid.
abstract: The study presented here was performed to determine the rates of immunity to tetanus in a cross section of the Turkish population and to assess the impact of a single-dose tetanus toxoid in previously unvaccinated individuals. Among 18-year-old participants who received their last tetanus booster 4 years prior to the study and 22-year-old participants who received the booster 8 years previously, certain durable protective antibody (>1 IU/ml) was detected in 100%. However, only 3.3% of 20-year-old participants who did not know whether they had been vaccinated as children or young adults had a protective antibody level. After administering a single dose of tetanus vaccine to this group, the rate of protective antibody increased from 3.3% to 96.7%. For the prevention of tetanus, the optimal policy should focus on improving rates of complete primary immunization in adults and children and giving a single booster every 10 years, or at least at age 40 or 50 years.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Gulhane Military Medical Academy, Haydarpasa Training Hospital, 34670 Uskudar/Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cavuslu
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Oncul
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Altunay
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Ozsoy
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kocak
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood*; D003017:Clostridium tetani / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D013742:Tetanus / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D013743:Tetanus Antitoxin / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood; D013745:Tetanus Toxoid; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D013743:Tetanus Antitoxin; D013745:Tetanus Toxoid