Evaluation of the protective level of antibodies to tetanus toxin in adults in Poland

Abstract

Introduction: The aim of the research was to assess the protective level of antibodies for tetanus toxin in adults in Poland. The obtained research results provide information on how the protective level of anti-tetanus antibodies is formed after the administration of basic doses and booster doses in people of different ages and gender. Material and Methods: A total of 493 serum samples collected from 321 adult individuals, 86 blood donors and 86 pregnant women with ages ranging from 20 to 40 years were investigated. Antibody concentrations were measured with an enzymelinked immunosorbent assay (Tetanus IgG ELISA, IBL International, Germany). Results: The results showed that among 493 individuals examined, only four were not detected with an IBL ELISA antibody for tetanus toxin. The most, as many as 258 people had antibodies at the level of 0.1-1.0 IU / ml, in 220 people these antibodies were detected at 1.0-5.0 IU / ml and only in 11 people at the level above 5.0 IU / ml. What is very important, the percentage of results with a high level of antibodies to the tetanus toxin (>1.0 IU/ml) decreased with the age of the examined patients. Analysis of the results showed that statistically significantly higher levels of antibodies (>1.0 IU/ml) were detected more frequently in men than in women. The percentage of highly positive results (over 1.0 IU/ml) was significantly higher in pregnant women (73.3%) than in the group of all 169 other women examined (24.3%) and higher than in the group of 50 women (40.0%) and 61 men (57.4%) at a similar age of 19-39 years as pregnant women. Conclusions: The results we obtained testify generally to a relatively good level of immunization against tetanus in the adult population in Poland up to 50 years of age. A high percentage of older people, especially after the age of 60, with a low level of vaccine anti-tetanus antibodies indicate the desirability of administering doses of the anti-tetanus vaccine in people in this age group.