A new OHSU study finds adults should get a tetanus booster shot once every 30 years, instead of every decade.
Courtesy of OHSU
In a study published in the journal 'Clinical Infectious Diseases,' Dr. Mark Slifka looked at the blood of about 550 adults and found that tetanus antibodies lasted much longer than previously believed.
“About 60 percent of people have been vaccinated within the prior 10 years," he said. "This comes out to about 15 million adult vaccinations a year, in the U.S. alone. And if we switched from the 10-year schedule to the 30-year schedule, that would reduce that down to just five million vaccinations.”
Slifka says that switch would save $1 billion and countless unnecessary vaccinations.
The study will be sent to the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which decides the nation's vaccination schedule.
Several other countries, including the U.K., do not recommend adult booster shots for tetanus.
Deaths attributable to tetanus have declined 99 percent since the pre-vaccine era.
