Persons using assistive technology might not be able to fully access information in this file. For assistance, please send e-mail to: [email protected]. Type 508 Accommodation and the title of the report in the subject line of e-mail.
Notice to Readers: Resumption of Routine Schedule for Tetanus
and Diphtheria Toxoids
The supply of adult tetanus and diphtheria toxoids (Td) in the United States has become sufficient to permit
the resumption of the routine schedule for Td use as recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices
(1,2). Adolescents and adults for whom routine Td booster doses were deferred should be recalled by their health-care
providers to receive the delayed dose. School attendance provisions requiring students to have received a Td booster at age
>11 years can be reinstituted.
The Td shortage began in the last quarter of 2000 and resulted from 1) decreased production in 2000 by both
U.S. manufacturers (Wyeth Lederle [Pearl River, New York] and Aventis Pasteur [Swiftwater, Pennsylvania]), 2) the decision
by Wyeth Lederle to cease Td production in 2001, and 3) the 11-month period required for vaccine production, which led to
a lag before increased Td supplies were available from the remaining manufacturer distributing vaccine nationally
(Aventis Pasteur) (3--5). The amount of Td distributed nationally decreased 40% during 2001--2002, compared with
preshortage distribution levels (Biological Surveillance System, unpublished data, 2002). To ensure vaccine availability for
priority indications (3), CDC recommended in May 2001 that all routine Td boosters in adolescents and adults be deferred and
that health-care providers record the names of patients whose booster doses were delayed for call-back once Td supplies
are restored (5). Health-care providers should review the vaccination status of their patients and administer Td and
other indicated vaccines as appropriate.
Use of trade names and commercial sources is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services.References to non-CDC sites on the Internet are
provided as a service to MMWR readers and do not constitute or imply
endorsement of these organizations or their programs by CDC or the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services. CDC is not responsible for the content
of pages found at these sites. URL addresses listed in MMWR were current as of
the date of publication.
Disclaimer
All MMWR HTML versions of articles are electronic conversions from ASCII text
into HTML. This conversion may have resulted in character translation or format errors in the HTML version.
Users should not rely on this HTML document, but are referred to the electronic PDF version and/or
the original MMWR paper copy for the official text, figures, and tables.
An original paper copy of this issue can be obtained from the Superintendent of Documents,
U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO), Washington, DC 20402-9371; telephone: (202) 512-1800.
Contact GPO for current prices.
**Questions or messages regarding errors in formatting should be addressed to
[email protected].
