Since a nationwide childhood vaccination with tetanus toxoid, tetanus has become a rare disease in Korea. However, we recently experienced 17 cases of adult tetanus in a university hospital during a 21-month period. Seventy percent of the patients were female, and the mean age was 63 yr (range, 29-87). The majority (88.2%) of the patients did not get primary vaccinations for tetanus and decennial tetanus-diph-theria toxoid booster. Most patients (88.2%), who sustained acute injury, did not seek medical care for their wounds or did not receive the prophylaxis for tetanus. Tetanus was found most frequently among farmers. Tetanus was diagnosed initially only in 53% of patients. The case-fatality ratio was 23.5%. These cases show that recently occurring tetanus in Korea is a disease, affecting the elderly and the female who may have a lower immunity against tetanus, and the farmers who are likely to be exposed to Clostridium tetani. In addition, diagnosis of tetanus is often delayed in area where cases are seen infrequently. Therefore, improved education among patients and physicians, emphasis of anti-tetanus immunization and awareness of tetanus respectively, may be essential for the prevention of disease and the reduction of its mortality.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Agricultural Workers' Diseases/epidemiology ; Diagnostic Errors ; Diphtheria-Tetanus-Pertussis Vaccine ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Health Education ; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice* ; Human ; Immunization, Secondary/psychology ; Immunization, Secondary/utilization* ; Korea/epidemiology ; Middle Aged ; Tetanus/diagnosis ; Tetanus/epidemiology* ; Tetanus/prevention & control ; Tetanus/therapy ; Tetanus Antitoxin/therapeutic use ; Tetanus Toxoid ; Treatment Outcome ; Vaccination/utilization* ; Wounds, Penetrating/complications

BACKGROUND: Point-of-care-testing (POCT) kits for tetanus toxoid antibody are used in emergency departments to evaluate the immunization status of patients with tetanus. The objective of this study was to evaluate the analytical performance and the utility of SD BIOLINE tetanus kit (Standard Diagnostic Inc., Yongin, Korea), as a POCT. METHODS: A total of 326 peripheral blood specimens (whole blood, 319; serum, 326) from healthy subjects and patients were used. SD BIOLINE tetanus kit was evaluated for precision, accuracy, effect of specimens, operator variance, and the total processing time. The results from SD BIOLINE tetanus kit were compared with those from 2 quantitative ELISA kits. RESULTS: Compared with ELISA kits, SD BIOLINE tetanus kit revealed a sensitivity of 88-97%, specificity of 87-92%, positive predictive value of 81-89%, negative predictive value of 90-98%, and kappa agreement of 0.78-0.82. SD BIOLINE tetanus kit also showed an excellent precision and a high accuracy. It showed a high concordance rate between whole blood and serum specimens. The total processing time of SD BIOLINE tetanus kit was 30-40 min. CONCLUSIONS: SD BIOLINE tetanus kit showed an excellent analytical performance. With its rapid turnaround time and the ease of handling and interpretation, SD BIOLINE tetanus kit seems appropriate for the evaluation of tetanus immunization status as a POCT device. However, education for operators and standardized guidelines for result interpretation should be emphasized.
Antibodies, Bacterial/blood ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Humans ; Point-of-Care Systems ; *Reagent Kits, Diagnostic ; Reproducibility of Results ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Tetanus/*diagnosis/prevention & control ; Tetanus Toxoid/*immunology

The aim of this study was to investigate the diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis antibody titers after antineoplastic treatment and to suggest an appropriate vaccination approach for pediatric hemato-oncologic patients. A total of 146 children with either malignancy in remission after cessation of therapy or bone marrow failure were recruited. All children had received routine immunization including diphtheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis vaccination before diagnosis of cancer. The serologic immunity to diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis was classified as: completely protective, partially protective, or non-protective. Non-protective serum antibody titer for diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis was detected in 6.2%, 11.6%, and 62.3% of patients, respectively, and partial protective serum antibody titer for diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis was seen in 37%, 28.1%, and 8.9% of patients. There was no significant correlation between the severity of immune defect and age, gender or underlying disease. Revaccination after antineoplastic therapy showed significantly higher levels of antibody for each vaccine antigen. Our data indicates that a large proportion of children lacked protective serum concentrations of antibodies against diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis. This suggests that reimmunization of these patients is necessary after completion of antineoplastic treatment. Also, prospective studies should be undertaken with the aim of devising a common strategy of revaccination.
Adolescent ; Age Factors ; Antibodies, Bacterial/blood/immunology ; Antineoplastic Agents/therapeutic use ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Diphtheria/immunology/prevention & control ; Diphtheria-Tetanus-acellular Pertussis Vaccines/*immunology ; Female ; Hematologic Neoplasms/*diagnosis/drug therapy ; Humans ; Immunization, Secondary ; Lymphoma/diagnosis/drug therapy ; Male ; Neuroblastoma/diagnosis/drug therapy ; Sex Factors ; Tetanus/immunology/prevention & control ; Whooping Cough/immunology/prevention & control