TETANUS IMMUNIZATION<subtitle>A Ten Year Study</subtitle>

THE IMMUNIZATION against tetanus with tetanus toxoid alone or combined with diphtheria toxoid and at times with added pertussis vaccine has now become an accepted practice in preventive medicine. There have been many reports on the immediate effectiveness of this procedure but few on longer term immunity levels. Peshkin 1 gave booster injections of tetanus toxoid to 25 children four years after basic immunization, and the titers rose to at least 0.1 unit in each child. Fifteen children were given tetanus booster injections by McBryde and Poston, 2 and their antitoxin levels became 0.1 to 12.0 units one week later. Miller, Ryan and Beard, 3 using fluid and alum-precipitated toxoid, gave booster injections to 20 children four to seven years after basic immunization, and their antitoxin levels rose to at least 0.1 unit within seven days. Long and Sartwell 4 and Baird 5 gave booster injections to seven and 23