caa a22 4500 475831225 CHVBK 20180406123840.0 cr unu---uuuuu 170329e20000701xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s100960000291 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s100960000291 Diphtheria Antibody Levels in the Italian Population [Elektronische Daten] [C. von Hunolstein, M. C. Rota, G. Alfarone, M. L. Ricci, S. Salmaso]  Immunity to diphtheria was assessed in serum samples obtained from 3111 healthy Italian males and females aged 0-84 years. Diphtheria antitoxin was tested using a double-antigen, time-resolved fluorescence immunoassay (DA-DELFIA). According to internationally accepted criteria, antitoxin concentrations <0.01 IU/ml indicate susceptibility to diphtheria, those ≥0.01-0.09 IU/ml provide basic or inadequate protection, and concentrations ≥0.1 IU/ml are protective. By these criteria, 9.9% (95% CI, 8.9 to 11.18) of the participants were susceptible to diphtheria, 30.2% (95% CI, 28.6 to 31.9) had basic protection, and 59.9% (95% CI, 58.1 to 61.6) were protected. The prevalence of unprotected individuals showed an age-related increase, up to the 45-49-year-old age group for females and the 50-54-year-old age group for males (34.9% and 31.3% of individuals, respectively). The prevalence of immunity did not significantly differ in relation to sex in any of the age groups. These results indicate that booster shots should be routinely provided to the adult population in order to maintain a protective level of diphtheria antibodies. Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 2000 von Hunolstein C. Laboratorio di Batteriologia e Micologia Medica, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy e-mail cris.v.h@iss.it, IT aut Rota M. C. Laboratorio di Epidemiologia e Biostatistica, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy, IT aut Alfarone G. Laboratorio di Batteriologia e Micologia Medica, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy e-mail cris.v.h@iss.it, IT aut Ricci M. L. Laboratorio di Batteriologia e Micologia Medica, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy e-mail cris.v.h@iss.it, IT aut Salmaso S. Laboratorio di Epidemiologia e Biostatistica, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy, IT aut https://doi.org/10.1007/s100960000291 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s100960000291 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- von Hunolstein C. Laboratorio di Batteriologia e Micologia Medica, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy e-mail cris.v.h@iss.it, IT aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Rota M. C. Laboratorio di Epidemiologia e Biostatistica, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy, IT aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Alfarone G. Laboratorio di Batteriologia e Micologia Medica, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy e-mail cris.v.h@iss.it, IT aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Ricci M. L. Laboratorio di Batteriologia e Micologia Medica, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy e-mail cris.v.h@iss.it, IT aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Salmaso S. Laboratorio di Epidemiologia e Biostatistica, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy, IT aut Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer