Neonatal tetanus in the babies of Nigerian mothers immunised against Tetanus.

The objective of this study was to describe the clinical characteristics of babies with neonatal tetanus (NNT) whose mothers were immunised against tetanus and determine the outcome of their hospitalisation. The hospital records of babies affected by NNT whose mothers received at least two doses of anti-tetanus vaccine during pregnancy were identified and compared with similarly affected babies whose mothers were not immunised against tetanus during pregnancy in a Nigerian hospital. Out of 175 cases of NNT, the mothers of 24 (13.7%) babies were immunised against tetanus during pregnancy while the mothers of 151 (86.3%) were not. The proportions of babies of immunised mothers and unimmunised mothers who presented within the first three days of life, within a day of the onset of symptoms and with spasms were similar. Nevertheless, the survival rate was higher (62.5% vs. 26.5%; P = 0.0004) among babies of immunised mothers. Despite similarities in clinical presentation of babies of mothers with and without anti-tetanus vaccination, the survival rate was higher for the former.