title: [Anti-tetanus immunity among university students and health staff in North Lebanon and administration of anti-tetanus serums in two hospitals].
abstract: Tetanus is a serious illness that kills about one million people a year globally. This study aimed to i) evaluate immunity against tetanus (by antibodies titres in blood) among health staff and students at the Public Health Faculty, Lebanese University, ii) explore the determinants of the anti-tetanus immunity by a questionnaire and iii) estimate anti-tetanic serum use in the emergency departments of two hospitals (1 private, 1 public) in Tripoli. Most of the participants (76.6%) had anti-tetanus antibody titres ≥ 0.1 UI/mL. There was no association between immune status and gender (P = 0.614) but more participants ≤ 25 years were immunized than those > 25 years (P < 0.001) and more students were immunized than employees (P = 0.032). There was an inverse association between anti-tetanus immunity and having visited a physician in the past year (P = 0.009). In 2011, 1037 people received anti-tetanus immunoglobulins at the hospitals, 73% at the private hospital. Vaccination campaigns targetting adults > 25 years may be warranted to assure good anti-tetanus protection and avoid administration of anti-tetanus immunoglobulins in emergency departments.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Microbiologie, santé et environnement, Centre Azm pour la Recherche en Biotechnologie et ses Applications, École doctorale des Sciences et de Technologie, Université Libanaise, Tripoli (Liban); Faculté de Santé publique, section 3, Université Libanaise, Tripoli (Liban).
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hamze
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Microbiologie, santé et environnement, Centre Azm pour la Recherche en Biotechnologie et ses Applications, École doctorale des Sciences et de Technologie, Université Libanaise, Tripoli (Liban); Faculté de Santé publique, section 3, Université Libanaise, Tripoli (Liban); Université Saint-Joseph, Faculté de médecine, Beyrouth (Liban).
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hlais
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Microbiologie, santé et environnement, Centre Azm pour la Recherche en Biotechnologie et ses Applications, École doctorale des Sciences et de Technologie, Université Libanaise, Tripoli (Liban); Faculté de Santé publique, section 3, Université Libanaise, Tripoli (Liban).
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Dabboussi
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Microbiologie, santé et environnement, Centre Azm pour la Recherche en Biotechnologie et ses Applications, École doctorale des Sciences et de Technologie, Université Libanaise, Tripoli (Liban); Faculté de Santé publique, section 3, Université Libanaise, Tripoli (Liban).
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mallat
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007117:Immunization, Secondary; D007861:Lebanon; D008297:Male; D013334:Students / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013742:Tetanus / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D013745:Tetanus Toxoid / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000276:immunology; D014495:Universities; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D013745:Tetanus Toxoid