[Analysis of diphtheria antibody levels in healthy population in Beijing municipal, 2007].
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the diphtheria antibody level in healthy population in Beijing.


METHODS
10 age groups (< 1, 1 to 4, 5 to 9, 10 to 14, 15 to 19, 20 to 24, 25 to 29, 30 to 34, 35 to 39, and > or =40) were sampled by the Multi-stage stratified sampling method in 9 districts in Beijing, and 2 003 sera from healthy population were collected. The diphtheria antibody was determined with ELISA method.


RESULTS
The diphtheria antibody-positive rate was 60.26%, and the antibody concentration was 0.62 IU/ml. A trend of decreasing in the antibody concentration was observed with increasing age and years after immunization. Antibody levels were the lowest in healthy people between 25-40 years old.


CONCLUSIONS
It was predicted that a large scale of diphtheria outbreak would not occur recently in Beijing. It is recommended that for all adults diphtheria toxoids booster immunization should be conducted every 10 years for all adults.
Li
Xiao-mei
XM
Beijing Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100013, China.
Liu
Dong-lei
DL
Yang
Jie
J
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China; D004165:Diphtheria / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011159:Population Surveillance; D055815:Young Adult
D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial