Immunity to tetanus in the 3-20 year age group in Italy

In Italy, systematic mandatory tetanus immunization of children started in 1968. In 1989, immunity against tetanus was assessed in a random sample of 758 healthy subjects aged 3-20 y, from four Italian cities. There were 257 subjects 3-5 y old all residing in Southern Italy and 501 subjects 11-20 y old from both the South and North. The overall prevalence of non-immune subjects was 19.1%, without difference by sex. The rates of subjects lacking protective antibody titres was 25.3% in children 3-5 y old (all coming from South and the islands), 11.5% in those 11 y old, and 18.9% in the 18-20 y age-group, respectively. Subjects 11-20 y old residing in the South and the islands were more likely…