Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR): Surveillance Summaries, June 2003 / Vol. 52 / No. SS-3

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Tetanus Surveillance -- United States, 1998-2000
• Journal Article:
  Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR): Surveillance Summaries
• Personal Author:
  Cortese, Margaret M. ; McGinley, Emily L. ; Murphy, Trudy V. ; Pascual, F. Brian ; Zanardi, Lynn R.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Immunization Program (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Epidemiology and Surveillance Division
• Description:
  Tetanus is a severe and often fatal infection. The incidence of reported cases in the United States has declined steadily since introduction of tetanus toxoid vaccines in the 1940s. REPORTING PERIOD: This report covers surveillance data for 1998--2000. DESCRIPTION OF SYSTEM: Physician-diagnosed cases of tetanus were reported to CDC's National Notifiable Disease Surveillance System. Supplemental clinical and epidemiologic information were provided by states. RESULTS AND INTERPRETATION: During 1998--2000, an average of 43 cases of tetanus was reported annually; the average annual incidence was 0.16 cases/million population. The highest average annual incidence of reported tetanus was among persons aged >60 years (0.35 cases/million population), persons of Hispanic ethnicity (0.37 cases/million population), and older adults known to have diabetes (0.70 cases/million population). Fifteen percent of the cases were among injection-drug users. The case-fatality ratio was 18% among 113 patients with known outcome; 75% of the deaths were among patients aged >60 years. No deaths occurred among those who were up-to-date with tetanus toxoid vaccination. Seventy-three percent of 129 cases with known injury information available reported an acute injury; of these, only 37% sought medical care for the acute injury, and only 63% of those eligible received tetanus toxoid for wound prophylaxis. INTERPRETATION: The majority of tetanus cases occurred among persons inadequately vaccinated or with unknown vaccination history who sustained an acute injury. Adults aged >60 years were at highest risk for tetanus and tetanus-related death. PUBLIC HEALTH ACTIONS: Tetanus is preventable through routine vaccination (i.e., primary series and decennial boosters) and appropriate management. A shortage of tetanus and diphtheria toxoids vaccine that began during 2000 ended in 2002. Efforts by health-care providers are warranted to vaccinate persons with delayed or incomplete vaccination, with emphasis on older persons and persons with high-risk conditions.
• Subjects:
  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Diabetes Complications
  • Incidence
  • Infant
  • Infant, Newborn
  More +
• Source:
  Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR): Surveillance Summaries, 2003; v. 52, no. 3
• Series:
  Surveillance Summaries: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• ISSN:
  1546-0738 (print) ; 1545-8636 (digital)
• Document Type:
  Journal Issue
• Genre:
  Statistics
• Place as Subject:
  United States
• Pages in Document:
  12 pdf pages
• Volume:
  52
• Issue:
  3
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/13700/cdc_13700_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 3.21 MB]
• Collection(s):
  Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:12c8bbee3f2298db6699cea9578f8fd82b36488c1e21b3727180218cdbad559cd1d69f6df4a4348edd99d1634e23f834ec3fd6f4c1202c19dc1832c91805a557