Tetanus in a rural setting of South-Western Nigeria: a ten-year retrospective study

ABSTRACT

We review the records of 79 tetanus patients in two hospitals [one tertiary and one secondary level] in Owo, Ondo state, Nigeria from 1997 to 2006. The male female ratio was 31. Ages were 14-70 years [mean 33.25 years, SD +/- 16.76]. The overall case fatality rate [CFR], 32.91%, did was not significantly different in the two hospitals. CFR for men was 32.10% and for women 35.29%. The main factor indicative of bad prognosis was a short hospitalization period. It was observed that 30.38% of our patients were discharged against medical advice [DAMA], that financial constraint was the underlying problem in 50% of cases, and that the trend of DAMA occurred at the two study sites. This DAMA phenomenon could pose a great danger to the eradication of this vaccine preventable disease in rural areas