Seroprotection against tetanus in the Italian general population.
General population
Immunization
Italy
Sero-epidemiology
Tetanus
Journal
Vaccine
ISSN: 1873-2518
Titre abrégé: Vaccine
Pays: Netherlands
ID NLM: 8406899
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
17 May 2024
17 May 2024
Historique:
received:
26
03
2024
revised:
01
05
2024
accepted:
10
05
2024
medline:
19
5
2024
pubmed:
19
5
2024
entrez:
18
5
2024
Statut:
aheadofprint
Résumé
Tetanus is a non-communicable disease, preventable with vaccination. Despite the implemented vaccination strategy, a certain number of tetanus cases per year continue to occur. The aim of the study was to evaluate the seroprevalence of anti-tetanus antibodies in the Italian population by age, sex and geographical area. To determine the level of tetanus-specific antibodies, an immunoenzymatic assay was used. A total of 3,821 serum samples were collected in the years 2019-20 from healthy subjects aged 6-90 years residing in 13 Italian regions. Overall, 85 % of the tested subjects resulted positive. The rate of subjects protected against tetanus showed a gradual decrease from the younger age groups to the older ones (6-12 years: 93.6 %, 13-24 years: 91.8 %, 25-39 years: 91.0 %, 40-64 years: 78.2 %, ≥ 65 years: 45.3 %); this is particularly evident in the Southern regions and Islands. Moreover, the prevalence of subjects with low protection (<0.1 IU/ml) was significantly higher in the ≥ 65 age group (10.3 %). Males and females' prevalence showed a significant difference only in the oldest age group (M: 60.8 %, F: 30.4 %). In general, a higher prevalence was observed for Northern (90.8 %) and Central regions (87.3 %) than Southern regions and Islands (80.0 %). These data, compared with epidemiological ones which showed a high number of cases in the elderly, confirmed that the population with lower protection has a greater risk of contracting the disease, demonstrating the need for adequate immunization through both primary vaccination and boosters for all ages and both sexes, in order to provide lifelong protection.
Sections du résumé
BACKGROUND
BACKGROUND
Tetanus is a non-communicable disease, preventable with vaccination. Despite the implemented vaccination strategy, a certain number of tetanus cases per year continue to occur. The aim of the study was to evaluate the seroprevalence of anti-tetanus antibodies in the Italian population by age, sex and geographical area.
METHODS
METHODS
To determine the level of tetanus-specific antibodies, an immunoenzymatic assay was used.
RESULTS
RESULTS
A total of 3,821 serum samples were collected in the years 2019-20 from healthy subjects aged 6-90 years residing in 13 Italian regions. Overall, 85 % of the tested subjects resulted positive. The rate of subjects protected against tetanus showed a gradual decrease from the younger age groups to the older ones (6-12 years: 93.6 %, 13-24 years: 91.8 %, 25-39 years: 91.0 %, 40-64 years: 78.2 %, ≥ 65 years: 45.3 %); this is particularly evident in the Southern regions and Islands. Moreover, the prevalence of subjects with low protection (<0.1 IU/ml) was significantly higher in the ≥ 65 age group (10.3 %). Males and females' prevalence showed a significant difference only in the oldest age group (M: 60.8 %, F: 30.4 %). In general, a higher prevalence was observed for Northern (90.8 %) and Central regions (87.3 %) than Southern regions and Islands (80.0 %).
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSIONS
These data, compared with epidemiological ones which showed a high number of cases in the elderly, confirmed that the population with lower protection has a greater risk of contracting the disease, demonstrating the need for adequate immunization through both primary vaccination and boosters for all ages and both sexes, in order to provide lifelong protection.
Identifiants
pubmed: 38762356
pii: S0264-410X(24)00561-9
doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2024.05.015
pii:
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Investigateurs
V Bordino
(V)
J Garlasco
(J)
G Memoli
(G)
A Giandomenico
(A)
F Greco
(F)
I Manini
(I)
E Montomoli
(E)
C M Trombetta
(CM)
V Baldo
(V)
M De Fino
(M)
M Marandola
(M)
I Giberti
(I)
A Orsi
(A)
S Barrocci
(S)
R La Porta
(R)
A Arghittu
(A)
M Dettori
(M)
M Boni
(M)
S Ghisellini
(S)
C M Maida
(CM)
F Tramuto
(F)
F Vitale
(F)
A Gamper
(A)
E Robatscher
(E)
M Guido
(M)
A Idolo
(A)
I F Angelillo
(IF)
F Napolitano
(F)
Informations de copyright
Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.
Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts
Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Giovanni Gabutti reports a relationship with Emergent BioSolutions, the GSK group of companies, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Pfizer, Sanofi Pasteur Italy, Novavax, Viatris, Moderna and Seqirus that includes: board membership, consulting or advisory, and speaking and lecture fees. The other authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.