Edwards K M
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee.
Infect Dis Clin North Am. 1990 Mar;4(1):85-103.
Although only few cases of diphtheria are reported annually in the United States, substantial numbers of adults have declining levels of protective serum antitoxin. A recent outbreak of diphtheria in Sweden emphasizes the importance of reimmunizing adults in diphtheria toxoid, included as part of routine use of tetanus/diphtheria toxoid. Tetanus is a completely preventable disease. Yet, most of the 60 to 100 annual cases of tetanus occur in older adults with no prior history of immunization. Tetanus immunization should be a routine part of medical care of all adults. Research currently is aimed at improving the efficacy and safety of pertussis vaccine. Future vaccines may be useful in protecting health care workers and other adults who have extensive contact with children against pertussis.
尽管美国每年仅报告少数几例白喉病例，但大量成年人的保护性血清抗毒素水平在下降。瑞典最近爆发的白喉疫情凸显了对成年人重新接种白喉类毒素的重要性，白喉类毒素是破伤风/白喉类毒素常规使用的一部分。破伤风是一种完全可预防的疾病。然而，每年60至100例破伤风病例中的大多数发生在没有免疫接种史的老年人中。破伤风免疫接种应成为所有成年人医疗保健的常规组成部分。目前的研究旨在提高百日咳疫苗的效力和安全性。未来的疫苗可能有助于保护医护人员和其他与儿童有广泛接触的成年人预防百日咳。
