According to a paper published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, adults do not need tetanus or diphtheria boosters if they’ve already completed their childhood vaccination series. The conclusion aligns with the WHO’s recent recommendations to only routinely give adults tetanus and diphtheria vaccines if they didn’t receive a full series of shots as children. In the U.S., the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices still recommends all adults receive booster shots every 10 years.
Review of over 11 billion person-years of incidence data revealed no benefit associated with performing adult booster vaccinations against tetanus or diphtheria. Image credit: Katja Fuhlert.
“To be clear, this study is pro-vaccine. Everyone should get their series of tetanus and diphtheria shots when they’re children. But once they have done that, our data indicates they should be protected for life,” said Professor Mark Slifka from the Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine and the Oregon National Primate Research Center.
Professor Slifka and colleagues conducted an observational cohort study based on WHO case reports from 2001 through 2016.
The researchers compared the incidence of tetanus and diphtheria in 31 North American and European countries that either do or do not recommend adult booster vaccination and found no significant difference in disease rates between these countries.
In a 2016 study, they concluded the vaccine produced at least 30 years of immunity for 546 adults.
As a result, they recommended at that time to vaccinate adults against these diseases only every 30 years.
“Based on our new data, it turns out we were probably overly conservative back in 2016,” Professor Slifka said.
“Even though it looked like immunity could be maintained for decades, we didn’t have direct evidence back then that this would translate into true protection against disease in the real world.”
“However, our new data provides the final piece to the puzzle.”
“We now have evidence showing the childhood vaccination series can provide a lifetime of protection against both tetanus and diphtheria.”
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Ariel M. Slifka et al. Incidence of Tetanus and Diphtheria in Relation to Adult Vaccination Schedules. Clinical Infectious Diseases, published online February 25, 2020; doi: 10.1093/cid/ciaa017
