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June 28, 2002

U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS

"Adults Need 10-Year Vaccine Boost, Too"

American Medical News (www.amednews.com) (06/17/02) Vol. 45, No. 23, P. 28; Landers, Susan J.

Though the shortage of the diphtheria-tetanus (Td) vaccine is scheduled to ease later this year, the rate of adults receiving their booster shots for the illnesses is not expected to rise. In fact, doctors have been battling a growing apathy among adults in receiving their routine booster shots for Td since before the vaccine shortage, leading to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics finding that just 60 percent of Americans are protected against diphtheria and only 72 percent have the antibodies to fight off tetanus.  The findings underline what doctors have remarked upon for years--that the most common age and gender group for tetanus is women over the age of 60 years, many of whom lack even the primary booster shots.  Older men have a higher rate of immunization due to service in the armed forces or after receiving boosters related to on-the-job activities.  To ensure that the limited vaccine was used properly, experts suggested that those traveling to countries with endemic diphtheria and those who have been wounded or burned receive their boosters first, pushing adults needing boosters to the back of the line. With the reintroduction of a supply of the Td vaccine, there is no reason that adults cannot receive their booster shots beginning in the end of the summer.

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