Improved survival rate in neonatal tetanus among babies of immunised mothers

ABSTRACT

Fifty-two neonates admitted for tetanus into our neonatal unit at Wesley Guild Hospital; Ilesa over a thirty-month period were analysed in relation to maternal immunisation with tetanus toxoid during pregnancy. Seventeen (32.7) of the babies were delivered to mothers who had tetanus toxoid immunisation during pregnancy. The male to female ratio; mean age and weight of babies in the two groups were similar. Six mothers took discharge of their babies against medical advice. Twenty (43.5) of the remaining 46 babies died. The fatality rates in the 16 infants of mothers who had tetanus toxoid and 30 infants of mothers who did not have tetanus toxoid during pregnancy were 12.5and 60respectively (P0.01). This report thus shows that neonatal tetanus can occur in babies of mothers immunised with tetanus toxoid during pregnancy but that maternal immunity probably improved the prognosis of neonatal tetanus in such infants