Abstract
Since 1955 nearly three-fourths of the known cases of tetanus in New York City have occurred in narcotic addicts. Tetanus in addicts gives the impression of being a new and different disease because of its unusual age, sex, residential and seasonal distribution and because of its severity (Cherubin, 1967). The age distribution, the increased case fatality and the absence of a summer peak of incidence can be explained: first, by the age distribution of addicts in this city; second, by the more severe nature of tetanus arising from puncture wounds; and last, by an absence of a summer increase in occupational exposure that exists for the nonaddict population. Left unexplained are the preponderance of cases in women and the unusual focus of the disease in the area of Harlem. Differences in protection by humoral antibodies are inadequate to explain these findings (Cherubin and Millian, report to be published). An
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