In Japan, the morbidity rate for pertussis per 100,000 population was 147.6 in 1950 when whole cell pertussis vaccine was introduced but dropped to 0.2 in 1972 when routine immunization with a combined vaccine consisting of diphtheria toxoid, tetanus toxoid, and whole cell pertussis had been widely accepted. Thereafter, adverse reactions to the whole cell pertussis vaccine became a social probl...

Tetanus neurotoxin (TeNT) consists of two protein chains connected by a disulfide linkage: The heavy chain mediates the toxin binding and uptake by neurons, whereas the light chain cleaves synaptobrevin and thus blocks neurotransmitter release.Chemically inactivated TeNT (tetanus toxoid) is utilized for the production of tetanus vaccines. For safety reasons, each toxoid bulk has to be tested fo...

Accurate determination of the concentrations of immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody to tetanus toxoid is important in order to evaluate the immunogenicity of tetanus toxoid vaccines, determine immune competence in individual patients, and measure the prevalence of immunity in populations. The performance of three commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) for IgG antibodies ...

The concept of mass vaccination of large populations by inhalation of a vaccine in the form of an aerosol [Aleksandrov and Gefen, J. Microbiol. Epidemiol. Immunobiol. (USSR) 31:997, 1960; Sawyer, Kuehne, and Gochenour, Military Med. 129:1040, 1964] has a strong appeal. Aerosol vaccination could immunize a maximal number of people in a minimal period of time, and possibly could confer superior p...

LITTLE work has been done to determine the effect of successive injections of tetanus toxoid in individual persons. Ina study' of a small group of ,adults actively immunized with tetanus toxoid, Evans (1943) found that in no instance was the antitoxin titre eighteen months after the third injection lower than it was four months after the second; in four of eleven persons it was definitely highe...

OBJECTIVE This study aimed to estimate the incremental cost-effectiveness of supplementary immunization activities to prevent neonatal tetanus in the Loralai district of Pakistan. The supplemental immunization activities were carried out in two phases during 2001-03. METHODS A state-transition model was used to estimate the effect of routine vaccination with tetanus toxoid as well as vaccinat...

BACKGROUND Although a combined Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib)/meningococcal capsular group C (MenC) conjugate vaccine with a tetanus toxoid carrier protein (Hib/MenC-TT) is not licensed for use in those above 2 years of age due to lack of data on safety and efficacy, certain patient groups at high risk of MenC and/or Hib disease are recommended to receive it. Laboratory workers working wit...

OBJECTIVES This study examined whether there is a risk that tetanus-toxoid-containing vaccines could cause Guillain-Barré syndrome and, if so, how large the risk is. METHODS This study was based on previous active surveillance epidemiological studies of Guillain-Barré syndrome and vaccination history. RESULTS A background rate of 0.3 cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome per million person-weeks...

Two methods of detecting antibodies to tetanus toxoid were compared, a radioimmunoassay (RIA) employing radiolabelled staphylococcal protein A and a direct haemagglutination (HA) method employing sheep erythrocytes coupled to tetanus toxoid with chromic chloride. These were shown to have a similarly high specificity with the HA method showing slightly higher sensitivity. Haemagglutination offer...