Tetanus immunity status among adult trauma patients in an ED

Tetanus is a vaccine-preventable infectious disease. It is caused by the bacterium Clostridium tetani. The aim of this study was to investigate tetanus immunity among adult trauma patients.

This study was performed with 267 trauma patients who were admitted to the emergency department of Tepecik Training and Research Hospital in Izmir City, Turkey over a six month period. After obtaining a written informed consent from each patient, a questionnaire concerning demographic information and tetanus vaccination history was filled in by the physician. Patients' blood samples (4-5 cc) were drawn into a test tube while creating an intravenous (IV) access prior to making any attempt for therapy. And the tetanus antibody level (IgG) was measured using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method. Tetanus antibody levels ≥0.1 IU/mL were considered protective.

Among 267 patients, 192 and 75 of the cases (71.9% and 28.1%) were male and female, respectively. The median age of the patients was 39 (IQRs = 28-52). Seventy-five percent of the patients (n = 201) had protective immunity rates for tetanus.

In our study, which was conducted among adults, it was found that the protective ratio of tetanus immunity decreased with age with an additional, significant decline in elderly patients.