Introduction. Tetanus, a severe acute toxic infection that is often fatal, can be prevented through vaccination. This report presents cases reported in France between 2008 and 2011. Methods. In France, only cases of generalized tetanus are subject to mandatory reporting (MR) and must be reported by physicians to the Regional Health Agencies. Results. Over the course of these four years, a total of 36 cases of tetanus were reported, of which 11 resulted in death, representing a case-fatality rate of 31%. The distribution of cases is as follows: 3 in 2008, 9 in 2009, 15 in 2010, and 9 in 2011, corresponding to reported case incidence rates of 0.05, 0.14, 0.23, and 0.14 cases per million inhabitants, respectively. The cases mainly involve older adults (86% are 70 years of age or older) and women (75%). The annual incidence by sex is, respectively: 0.09 cases per million for women and 0 for men in 2008, 0.24 and 0.03 in 2009, 0.27 and 0.19 in 2010, and 0.21 and 0.06 in 2011. Regarding the route of entry, these were injuries (66.7% of cases) or chronic wounds (25%). In 8.3% of cases, the entry point was not identified. All cases were unvaccinated or inadequately vaccinated. Discussion. All of these cases and deaths could have been prevented by better adherence to the tetanus vaccination schedule and, in the event of a wound, by vaccination and administration of specific human immunoglobulins according to the recommended protocol. (R.A.)