Introduction:

tetanus is a severe acute disease that is difficult to treat, and therefore its prevention is essential. The administration of 5 doses of tetanus vaccine suffices to confer long-term protection. In recent years, there has been evidence of a decrease in vaccination coverage, which entails that immunization in the population is insufficient. The aim of this study was to analyse the vaccination coverage rate for the booster dose of tetanus vaccine in adolescents residing in the town of Santa Amalia in the province of Badajoz (Spain) in the past 20 years (1996-2016).

Materials and methods:

the study had a cross-sectional and observational design and involved the review of vaccination cards and records of the administered doses of vaccine, both manual and electronic (JARA Primary Care system). Between 1996 and 2001, vaccination was performed in the school setting and documented manually. Since 2002, vaccination was performed in the primary care centre, and documented manually between 2002 and 2007 and in the electronic health records system between 2008 and 2016.

Results:

the analysis of vaccination coverage by groups found the poorest results in the period that vaccination was performed in the primary care centre and documented manually (35.6%), while the best results corresponded to the period when vaccination was made in the primary care centre and documented in the electronic health records (100%), followed by the period of vaccination in the school with manual documentation (83.0%).

Conclusions:

the study found a high vaccination coverage for the booster dose of tetanus vaccine in adolescents aged 14 years residing in Santa Amalia, similar to the national average coverage, despite the low coverage rates documented in the rest of Extremadura.

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