Özcan N.Bulut Z.K.Evinç E.Yiğitalp G.Özekinci T.Ceylan A.2024-04-242024-04-2420180204-8809https://hdl.handle.net/11468/25180Women suffer much from wars and forced migrations. In 2014, Ezidians (Yazidis) living in Iraq migrated to Syria and then to Turkey due to civil war. Tetanus is a bacterial infection caused by Clostridium tetani spores getting into the body. Hepatitis B is an infection caused by the hepatitis B virus. Both hepatitis B and tetanus are vaccine-preventable diseases. We aimed to evaluate the seroprevalence of tetanus and hepatitis B among Yazidi women who had fled to our country and have been living in a tent city. This study was conducted in Diyarbakır province, located in Southeastern Turkey, between July 2015 and February 2016. A total of 245 Yazidi women aged between 15 and 49 years, living in a tent city, were included. HBsAg, anti-HBs and anti-HBcIgG were studied by ELISA method with Cobas e 601 (Roche Diagnostics, Switzerland) system autoanalyzer. Antibodies to tetanus toxin were tested by ELISA method with the Virotech ELISA tetanus (Virotech, Germany). Of the 245 women, 38 (15.5%) had vaccine-induced immunity, while 11 (4.5%) had antibodies against hepatitis B due to previous exposure. Two women (0.8%) had isolated anti-HBcIgG positivity. Among 245 women, 96 (39.2%) had anti-tetanus antibodies. This population was notably susceptible to both tetanus and hepatitis B. Vaccination of this sensitive population was important for the well-being of the women, their spouses and children to be born. © 2018, Bulgarian Society for Microbiology (Union of Scientists in Bulgaria). All rights reserved.eninfo:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccessHepatitis BSeroprevalenceTetanusYazidi WomenArticle3421001052-s2.0-85106209305Q4