BioProject

Clostridium tetani is a human pathogen that is the causative agent of tetanus, a non-communicable disease contracted through exposure to the spores of the bacterium. More...

Clostridium tetani is a human pathogen that is the causative agent of tetanus, a non-communicable disease contracted through exposure to the spores of the bacterium. C. tetani exists worldwide in soil and in animal intestinal tracts, and as such can contaminate many surfaces and substances; because of the ubiquity, the disease cannot be eradicated. Tetanus occurring during pregnancy or within 6 weeks of the end of pregnancy is called “maternal tetanus”, while tetanus occurring within the first 28 days of life is called “neonatal tetanus”. Neonatal tetanus is still common in the developing world where the portal of entry is usually the umbilical stump. WHO estimated that neonatal tetanus killed about 49,000 newborn children in 2013. Actually an estimated 800 000 neonates a year were affected by the disease with a mortality rate of 6.7 per 1000 live births. Mortality from tetanus varies between approximately 10 and 80%, but the disease is completely preventable by vaccination and post-exposure prophylaxis. To be protected, WHO recommends that an individual receives 3 doses of DTP (Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis) in infancy, followed by TTCV (tetanus-toxoid-containing vaccines) boosters at school-entry age (4-7 years), in adolescence (12-15 years), and in early adulthood or during the first pregnancy. The Brazilian National Immunization Program (BNIP) uses the DTP (Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis) produced ate produced at Instituto Butantan and distributed as free for the entire national population. The aim of this study is to sequencing the whole genome of the Clostridium tetani harvard caracas strain used in the vaccine production. This information is very important to have the complete identity of the vaccine strain and to monitoring the molecular characteristic of the production strain among years of production. Less...