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Bull World Health Organ. 1980; 58(6): 927–930.
PMCID: PMC2396004
PMID: 6971190

Reduction of neonatal tetanus by mass immunization of non-pregnant women: duration of protection provided by one or two doses of aluminium-adsorbed tetanus toxoid*

Abstract

Immunization of non-pregnant women in rural Bangladesh with two doses of aluminium-adsorbed tetanus-diphtheria toxoids reduced neonatal mortality by one-third during a period of 9-32 months after vaccination. The reduction in mortality rate was attributable almost entirely to a 75% lower mortality rate among 4-14-day-old infants, when tetanus was the predominant cause of death.

In the period up to 20 months following vaccination, the reduction in deaths among 4-14-day-old infants after a single dose of tetanus-diptheria toxoids was about the same as that after two doses. However, beyond 20 months a single dose did not appear to provide protection.

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Selected References

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