Tetanus vaccination, antibody persistence and decennial booster: a serosurvey of university students and at-risk workers.

The aim of the present research is to verify the immune status against tetanus in students and workers exposed to risk and to ascertain whether a decennial booster is necessary. Antibodies against tetanus were measured in 1433 workers and students of Padua University (Italy). The enrolment criterion was the ability to provide a booklet of vaccinations released by a public health office. The influence of age, gender, the number of vaccine doses, and the interval since the last dose was determined. Ten years after the last dose, the majority of subjects (95·0%) displayed an antibody titre above the protective level (⩾0·10 IU/ml), and half of these (49·1%) had a long-term protective level (⩾1·0 IU/ml). According to our data, titre depends on both the number of vaccine doses and the interval since the last dose (P < 0·0001). Five vaccine doses and an interval of at least 10 years since the last dose are predictive of a long-term protective titre in absence of a booster (1·97 IU/ml). These data suggest that when primary series are completed, a decennial booster is unnecessary for up to 20 years. Furthermore, we recommend measuring the antibody level before a new booster is given to prevent problems related to over-immunisation.

Tuberculosis in Genoa: the contribution of Edoardo Maragliano (1849-1940) and the Medical School of the University of Genoa.

Between nineteenth and twentieth centuries, medicine knew the beginning of an incessant development: the birth of new medical specialties (radiology, for instance), the introduction of new devices in medical and surgical wards, and the discovery of bacteria represented important milestones in that first historical period. The Medical School of the University of Genoa, head by Edoardo Maragliano, full professor of internal medicine, took on a relevant role in the battle against tuberculosis, through the experimental demonstration of the existence of an immune response against M. tuberculosis and the production of an inactivated vaccine. During his career, Maragliano surrounded himself with graduate assistants and students, who would later become full professors of internal medicine in prestigious universities and excellent physicians. In order to allow the correct diagnosis and educate his young colleagues, Maragliano endowed his clinic laboratories of haematology, biochemistry, microbiology and radiology. Under his supervision, the assistants of the Genoa University Medical Clinic issued over two thousand scientific publications.