SEX-DEPENDENT AND AGE-DEPENDENT GAPS IN T HE IMMUNOLOGICAL PROTECTIONAGAINST TETANUS

To test tetanus immunity, tetanus antitoxin titres were measured in th e serum of 692 subjects (354 males, 338 females). aged one day (newbor ns) to 92 years (mean age 29 years). Those aged 18 to 65 years were fi rst-time blood donours, the remainder were healthy newborns, while the children and those over 65 years were patients without immune-comprom ising disease. An inadequate protection (titre < 0.1 IU/ml) was found in 107 (15.5%), of whom 75 (70%) were females. Women aged 20 years and above also had significantly lower average antitoxin titres than men (1.7 vs. 3.5 IU/ml); P < 0.0001). The inadequate immunization protecti on of many young women is reflected in the lack of protective antibodi es in 10 of the 49 examined newborns. In addition, 18% of children age d between 1 and 15 years had inadequate immunity against tetanus. In t he whole group the titre level decreased with age, while the proportio n of unprotected persons increased. - Apart from the obvious age and s ex dependency of the demonstrated inadequacy of immunological protecti on against tetanus, attention should also be paid to the lack of prote ctive antibodies in newborns and the marked gaps of immunity among chi ldren.