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Lack of seroprotection against diphtheria in the Austrian population, in light of reported diphtheria cases in Europe, 2022
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View Affiliations Hide AffiliationsUrsula Wiedermannursula.wiedermann meduniwien.ac.at
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Citation style for this article: . Lack of seroprotection against diphtheria in the Austrian population, in light of reported diphtheria cases in Europe, 2022 . Euro Surveill. 2023;28(17):pii=2300206. https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2023.28.17.2300206 Received: 06 Apr 2023; Accepted: 26 Apr 2023
Abstract
Following an increase in diphtheria cases in Europe since 2022, we retrospectively estimated the prevalence of seroprotection against diphtheria and tetanus in 10,247 Austrian residents (population: 8,978,929) voluntarily tested between 2018 and 2022. Lack of seroprotection against diphtheria was found in 36% compared with 4% against tetanus. The geometric mean antibody concentration against tetanus was 7.9-fold higher compared with that for diphtheria. Raising awareness of regular booster vaccinations against diphtheria in combination with tetanus and pertussis is urgently needed.
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