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Neonatal tetanus in Peru: risk assessment with modified enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and toxoid skin test.

L Vernacchio, G Madico, M Verastegui, F Diaz, T S Collins and R H Gilman

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Md.

We used a modified enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to investigate tetanus immunity in 232 pregnant Peruvian women. One hundred forty-two (61.2%) had protective antitoxin titers (> or = 0.01 IU/mL). Protective titers correlated positively with the number of toxoid doses reported during the current pregnancy. A majority of women reporting no toxoid doses during the current pregnancy had at least one prenatal health care visit. We evaluated a toxoid skin test in 44 of the subjects, but it correlated poorly with the ELISA. The modified ELISA is a useful in vitro method for studying tetanus immunity in the developing world.