A Clinical Study on Predisposing Factors of Death on Neonatal Tetanus

Rhee, Keon Su; Chung, Young Hun

Abstract

Total 60 cases of the patients of neonatal tetanus were clinically evaluated who were admitted to the department of Pediatrics, Chungnam National University Hospital from Jan. 1976 to Dec. 1980 to identify the predisposing factors of death. The result were as follows; 1) The annual patients were encountered in 12 cases and the over all mortality was 42.9%. 2) Sex incidence showed that males predominated in proportion of 2.5 : 1, but mortality of females were twice of males. 3) The distribution of incidence by residence of patients was same between urban and rural area. All cases were delivered at home. 4) The umbilical cords were cut by unsterilized scissors in 80% of cases. 5) The peak incidence of incubation period was between 5 to 7 days after birth. The shorter the incubation period was, the worse the prognosis was. 6) The most of patients were admitted within 3 days. 7) The common symptoms on admission were poor feeding, trismus and convulsion. 8) The higher or the lower the temperature was, the worse the prognosis was. 9) The majority of patients(70.9%) were expired within 2 days after admission. 10) The important complications were sustained fever, asphyxia and pneumonia. The mortality rate was increased with complications. 11) The more effective dosage of antitoxin was 20,000I.U. to 40,000I.U. 12) The patients body weight below 3kg or above 4kg on admission had poor prognosis. 13) The lower the hemoglobin was, the higher the mortality rate was. 14) The patients whose WBC counts on peripheral blood being above 25,000/mm3 had high mortality rate.