There has been a 95% decline in U.S. tetanus cases over the last 77 years, but as vaccination rates slip and climate change-related natural disasters increase, the annual tetanus case count is rising, NBC News reported Dec. 24.
A joint investigation by NBC News and Stanford (Calif.) University found sweeping declines in kindergarten vaccination against tetanus. Since 2019, the rate of children receiving the diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTaP) vaccine series has decreased across more than 75% of U.S. counties and jurisdictions, according to the report.
In 1948, when the tetanus vaccine combined with diphtheria and pertussis shots, the U.S. reported 601 tetanus cases, according to the CDC. Since then, reported cases have fallen 95% and deaths from tetanus decreased more than 99%.
In the 21st century, annual rates have hovered between 15 and 28 cases. This figure has slightly increased, though, amid falling vaccination rates and more climate change-related natural disasters, NBC News reported.
2024 saw 32 tetanus cases in the U.S., and so far in 2025, the nation has confirmed at least 37.
Each case can be costly, according to the report. In 2017, for instance, medical treatment for a 6-year-old unvaccinated boy in Oregon cost more than $800,000.
Mobeen Rathore, MD, chief of pediatric infectious diseases and immunology at the University of Florida College of Medicine-Jacksonville, told NBC News he is worried about a “post-vaccination era.”
Read more here.
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