Investigation of tetanus antitoxin titer levels in people over forty years of age

Abstract

Objective: Tetanus is a disease that can be prevented with vaccination, but protective antitoxin titers decrease to undetectable levels with old age. The aim of this study is to evaluate tetanus antitoxin levels in individuals over 40 years of age and to investigate the vaccination and physical in-jury status via survey. Material and Methods: A total of 361 participants, 178 men and 183 women, were enrolled in the study and blood was drawn from each participant to measure tetanus antibody level by enzyme immunoassay (EIA) method. Results: Tetanus antibodies were undetectable in 55 male (30.9%) and 71 female patients (38.8%) at the end of the study. It was determined that tetanus antitoxin levels significantly decrease with age in both women and men especially after 50 years of age which is accepted as the limit age in which antibody is likely to be negative. Conclusion: In adult age group, booster vaccination for tetanus is recommended every 10 years in developing and developed countries, but this recommendation cannot be put into practice as anticipated. Similarly in our country, vaccination of adult age group is not common and tetanus vaccine is not generally administered at every ten years. The results of this study show that one dose of tetanus vaccine should be administered at least to individuals over 50 years of age, and individuals who do not recall their vaccination history should be taken into a three-dose vaccination program. © 2012 by Türkiye Klinikleri.