Outbreak of Tetanus Among Elderly Women Treated with Sheep Cell Therapy

Tetanus is a worldwide disease whose incidence is highest in developing countries. In most Western nations, however, the incidence is less than one case per million population per year. About 60% of the cases occur in persons greater than or equal to 60 years. In Argentina, a country with 34 million inhabitants, 10 to 67 cases have been reported yearly in the past decade. We describe an outbreak of tetanus in a population of elderly patients who received sheep cell therapy in Buenos Aires, Argentina, between March and April 1996.