Tetanus and diphtheria immunity in adolescents from São Paulo, Brazil

Abstract

Tetanus and diphtheria vaccines are of special concern in adolescents because boosters are necessary for adequate maintenance of protection and are often omitted. We assessed serum levels of tetanus and diphtheria antibodies in adolescents and their association with vaccination status. From May to October 2001, we evaluated the vaccination records of 208 adolescents aged 10 to 20 years in São Paulo, Brazil. Antibodies to tetanus and diphtheria were detected using double-antigen ELISA and vaccination records were analyzed according to the guidelines of the Brazilian National Immunization Program. All adolescents had received complete primary vaccinations against tetanus and diphtheria, but 23.1% of them had not received a booster dose in the last 10 years. All adolescents were immune to tetanus and 88.9% were fully protected (antibodies ≥0.1 IU/mL). One individual (0.5%) was non-immune to diphtheria and 86% were fully protected against the disease. Adolescents with up-to-date vaccination records had higher antibody levels than those with not up-to-date records for tetanus (0.763 vs 0.239 IU/mL, t-test: P < 0.0001) and diphtheria (0.366 vs 0.233 IU/mL, t-test: P = 0.014). Full immunity against tetanus (antibodies ≥0.1 IU/mL) was higher among individuals with up-to-date vaccination (93.1%) when compared to those with not upto-date records (75%, Fisher's exact test: P = 0.001). All adolescents had received basic immunization in childhood and were protected against tetanus and diphtheria. However, these data indicate that more emphasis should be placed on the tetanus-diphtheria booster in order to avoid a decay in antibody levels.

Prevalence and socio-demographic factors associated with non-protective immunity against tetanus among high school adolescents girls in Nigeria

“…However, apart from the fact that those girls who participated in the study by Brabin and Colleagues [12] were selected from rural community, Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method was used to determine tetanus antibody level against TQS used the present study. Also the prevalence of protective immunity against tetanus in the present study is far lower than 88.9% reported by Dinelli et al, [19] among female adolescents in Brazil. Again, ELISA method was used in that study.…”