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.
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This study was presented at the Seventh Congress of Balkan Military Medical Committee, Athens, Greece, 6–10 October 2002
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Cavuslu, S., Oncul, O., Altunay, H. et al. Seroprevalence of Tetanus Antibody in Turkish Population and Effectiveness of Single-Dose Tetanus Toxoid. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 22, 431–433 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-003-0954-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-003-0954-y