Knowledge of general public and health professionals about tetanus immunization.

OBJECTIVE: To study the awareness among general public and health care providers about tetanus immunization in relation to injuries, and their knowledge about tetanus immunization schedules in children, pregnant females and adults. METHODS: It was a cross-sectional study done at a perfect health mela and all the government allopathic health agencies in Delhi. RESULTS: The knowledge of tetanus immunization was poor among general public as well as health care providers. A substantial proportion of them indicated tetanus injection after every injury, which was unwarranted. The knowledge of tetanus immunization schedule for adults was poor among all categories of respondents, though it was comparatively better for pregnant females, but only 75% of doctors and 51.1% of nursing personnel correctly knew the immunization schedule against tetanus in children. CONCLUSION: There is a need to upgrade the level of knowledge among health care providers so as to ensure that schedules of tetanus are followed properly and unnecessary repeated immunizations are avoided and the same knowledge is passed on to the general public also.