Transplacental Dilution of Tetanus Antitoxins in Delhi

Maternal blood-cord samples from 171 women of middle socio-economic status who had been administered at least two doses of tetanus toxoid (TT), were assayed for tetanus antitoxins by passive haemagglutination (PHA) test. All the mother as well as cord samples had antitoxin titres ≥0.015 IU/ml, the generally accepted minimal protective level; 98 per cent of the mothers and 97 per cent of the newborns had levels ≥0.125 IU/ml. Transplacental dilution was observed in 45 per cent of the samples; the cord/maternal antitoxin ratio (C/M) of geometric mean titre (GMT) was found to be 0.72. The C/M ratio was not affected by the maternal age, parity, birth weight, and number of TT doses administered to mother. The study showed that tetanus antitoxins were diluted on the fetal side of circulation, but the protective levels of antitoxins were achieved in all the newborns as the mothers had received at least two doses of TT before delivery.