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Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology, 11 1996, 753-755, Vol 3, No. 6
Copyright © 1996 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Rates of tetanus protection and transplacental tetanus antibody transfer in pregnant women from different socioeconomic groups in Peru

G Madico, G Salazar, J McDonald, W Checkley, M Calderon, M Verastegui and RH Gilman
A.B. PRISMA, Lima, Peru.

In developing countries, neonatal tetanus causes significant mortality. Using a new competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to measure anti-tetanus toxin antibody levels, we compared rates of protection, total antibody levels, and maternal-to-fetal antibody ratios between different socioeconomic groups in Peru. Upper-middle-class women 25 years and older had significantly lower rates of protection and mean anti-tetanus toxin antibody levels than did lower-class women of the same age. Nevertheless, the former had higher fetal-to-maternal antibody ratios, independent of maternal age, total antibody levels, or parity. We conclude that future vaccination programs in Latin America must target upper-middle-class as well as lower-class women.