[Screening of carriers of antitetanus antibodies in blood donors]

A screening of antitetanic antibody (AcAT) carriers has been carried out in 4770 blood donors. The percentage of "positive" subjects (with a rate of AcAT greater than or equal to 5 U.I./ml according to Laurell's method) is relatively high: 6,62%. The aim of a statistical study is to find out the distribution of AcAT carriers according to different factors: the chi 2 test allows us to conclude that the relation between the frequency of "positive" AcAT carriers and the blood groups is not significant but there is a significant connection between the frequency of "positive" AcAT carriers, sex and age. Our conclusions agree with those of authors having performed the study after vaccination. Our study has a double advantage: it allows us to know the vaccination state of the blood donors before any vaccination and allows the collecting of "positive" serum samples without having to wait for the vaccination.