May 7, 2002 PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- A substantial proportion of U.S. adults are not sufficiently protected against diphtheria and tetanus because they haven't kept up with their booster shots, a study found.
On average, only 60 percent of adults were protected against diphtheria and 72 percent against tetanus, according to the study in Tuesday's Annals of Internal Medicine.
"In this country we have a real emphasis on childhood immunizations," said the lead author, Geraldine M. McQuillan of the National Center for Health Statistics. "What was a big surprise about this data was that though we're doing OK for kids, we really have a problem in adults."
Antibody levels were poorest among people 70 and older, with only 30 percent immune to either disease, researchers found. Antibodies are produced by the immune system to fight off threats to the body.
The study looked at information on 18,000 people in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination survey from 1988 to 1994.
Both diseases can be fatal. Tetanus is caused by bacteria entering the body through a wound and diphtheria is largely transmitted from an infected person sneezing or coughing.
Fewer than 50 cases of tetanus are reported annually in the United States and only 49 cases of diphtheria were reported from 1980 to 1999.
The study's authors say that adults should have booster doses of tetanus and diphtheria vaccine every 10 years and are calling upon physicians to make these immunizations a routine part of patient care.
Copyright 2002 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
