[Status of tetanus immunity in a group of children in Liguria]

By means of the passive hemagglutination test the antitetanus immunity in a group of 380 children, aged between 0 and 14 years, of various Italian regions, was ascertained. On the whole, 62.9% of the subjects showed a titer equal to, or higher than 1024, equivalent to 0.1 I.U./ml of antitoxin. In subjects younger than 2 years, this ratio is only 42.2%, thus showing a scanty protection in this age period. As far as the origin of the subjects is concerned, it turns out that, for the group of the Center-South the percentage of the children immunized in the younger ages is higher, unlike what occurs subsequently beyond 10 years when the highest ratio of unprotected subjects can be detected. The opportunity to immunize the mothers and to anticipate the age of the primovaccination for tetanus is set forth.