Tetanus is a disease caused by Clostridium tetani, a gram-positive, anaerobic, sporigenic bacterium that enters the body through a wound and leads to systemic manifestations through a toxin (exotoxin).
WHO reports a reduction in tetanus cases worldwide partly related to increased vaccination coverage, and in 2011 reported 14,132 cases of tetanus worldwide, from 2008 to 2010 an estimated 61,000 deaths from this disease.
All cases of tetanus observed in Italy over the past few years involve people who had never been vaccinated (82% of cases in individuals older than 85 years), or were inadequately vaccinated (minus 3 doses, or interval of more than 10 years since the last dose).
In most of the tetanus cases reported in recent years, the infection was caused by wounds or minor excoriations.
