| Photo Credit: |
CDC - This photograph shows a culture of the diphtheria bacteria. Each dot is made up of millions of bacteria cells. |
| Definition: |
Diphtheria is a bacterial disease that usually affects the tonsils, nose, and skin. The bacterium responsible for diphtheria is Corynebacterium diphtheriae. It can be passed from person to person by inhaling droplets from contaminated sneezes, coughs, and even laughs, or by handling used tissues with the bacteria on it or in a glass used by an infected person. If left untreated, diphtheria can lead to breathing problems, heart failure, paralysis and sometimes death. Skin diphtheria is usually found in tropical countries, or in areas with crowded conditions and inadequate hygiene.
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| Symptoms: |
Symptoms usually occur two to six days after a child has been exposed to the diphtheria bacteria.. Diphtheria can be mistaken as a severe sore throat in its early stages. A doctor will be able to tell if a person has diphtheria by taking a throat culture or nose culture from the patient. Some people who do not develop symptoms of diphtheria may still have it and are contagious. Symptoms of diphtheria include:
- Fever
- red sore swollen throat
- Headaches
- Weakness
- Difficulty Breathing, Swallowing, and Talking
- Swollen lymph Glands
- Odourous Breath
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| Top Five Countries where Diphtheria is Most Prevalent: |
- Indonesia- For every 867,101 people there is one person infected
- India- For every 272,118 people there is one person infected
- Russian Federation- For every 222,800 people there is one person infected
- Nepal- For every 156, 477 people there is one person infected
- Papua New Guinea- For every 13,449 people there is one person infected
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| Treatment: |
The diphtheria bacteria make a toxin that causes the disease to be so serious. To treat the disease, an antitoxin was developed. The antitoxin is given either through an IV or injection. This helps cancels out the toxin that has not yet invaded cells but is still circulating in the blood.
Along with antitoxin, doctors give patients an antibiotic. The antibiotic helps get rid of the bacteria so toxin cannot be produced. The common antibiotics used to help fight diphtheria are erythromycin or penicillin for 14 days. A victim of diphtheria will need to have tube suctioning of the nose and throat secretions, tube feeding (if the person can not swallow,) and tracheotomy (artificial opening for breathing) if he has paralysis of the breathing muscles. Anyone who was in contact with a person contaminated with diphtheria should have a throat culture done even if they do not have symptoms and be watched for seven days, and must receive the vaccine booster - DTP, DT, or Td - if they have not had one in more than five years. Anyone with a positive culture will be placed on antibiotics. |
| Vaccine: |
Almost one out of every 10 people who get diphtheria will die from it. This is because of the complications the toxin causes once it is in the body. To help prevent diphtheria, a person can receive the DTP shot, or Td shot which is the DTP shot without the pertussis part. This vaccine was first introduced in the 1940’s.
The DTP protects against diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis. Td helps prevent tetanus and diphtheria. The vaccine contains a toxoid, a weakened form of the diphtheria toxin. This toxoid stimulates the immune system to make antibodies against the toxin to protect you from the disease.
Because this immunity is not long lasting, a person needs to have the vaccine every ten years. The toxoid comes in two strengths - one for children under the age of seven and children older than seven. The concentration for children under seven is higher to help develop immunity. The concentration for children older than seven is lower because it has fewer side effects and is strong enough to boost immunity. Common side effects of the diphtheria vaccine are a slight fever and irritability in the first 24 hours after the shot and redness, swelling, and pain in the injection spot. Usually these side effects go away on their own and are minor. If the child gets a fever more than one day after the vaccine, a doctor should be called. People who should not get the Diphtheria vaccine:
- Anyone who has had a high fever or serious illness should wait until recovered. But children with only mild colds and low fever can take the vaccine.
- Anyone who has had an allergic reaction immediately following the DTP vaccine. Giving the vaccine to someone who had an allergic reaction already to it will cause severe wheezing, difficulty breathing, a dramatic drop in blood pressure, and shock.
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| Human Interest Story: |
Balto and the Great Race
 Balto was a Siberian husky born in Nome, Alaska in 1923. He spent much of his early life as part of a sled dog team that transported supplies to miners in the surrounding areas.
But Balto is famous for his dog sled race from Nenana, Alaska to Nome, Alaska.
On January 21, 1925, several Inuit children in Nome, Alaska were diagnosed with diphtheria. Without the anti-toxin needed to stop the disease from spreading, almost all of the children in Nome would be attacked by this highly contagious disease. The only serum (antitoxin) for the disease was in a hospital in Anchorage, almost 1000 miles away. A train could only bring the serum part of the distance to Nenana, but after that transportation was hard to come by. Ice prevented transportation by ship, and frequent blizzards prevented transportation by flight. The final decision to transport the serum the remaining 674 miles between Nenana and Nome was by using a relay of dog sled teams. By doing this, it was estimated that it could take up to 13 days.
The package containing the serum left Anchorage by train on Monday, January 26, 1925 and arrived the next day in Nenana where it was turned over to the first dog sled team. More than 20 teams participated in this relay. The last team that would finish the relay was led by a musher named Gunnar Kassen, with Balto leading his sled team.
A blinding blizzard dropped temperatures to -50 degrees and winds gusted at 50 mph. Kassen was unable to navigate his way, and was about to give up all hope. But Balto remembered the trail well and followed his instincts leading Kassen and his team through the cold and snow. On February 2 at 5:30 AM, the team finally arrived in Nome, successfully delivering the serum, only seven days after leaving Anchorage.
Today, in memory of Balto’s hard work there is a statue of Balto in Central Park in New York City. Also the Iditarod Trial Sled Dog race has been run from Anchorage to Nome every year since 1973, and remembers the role of the dog teams in the settlement of Alaska and the heroic serum race that saved many children in 1925. On Balto’s statue there is a plague that reads: “Dedication to the indomitable spirit of the sled dogs that relayed anti toxin 600 miles over treacherous waters, through arctic blizzards, from Nenana to the relief of stricken Nome in the winter of 1925- Endurance, Fidelity, Intelligence.” |
| What's New: |
In September 2003, the CDC reported a case of diphtheria in a man who lived in Pennsylvania but had traveled to Haiti to help build a church. He had never been vaccinated and was exposed to diphtheria in Haiti. Even though he was in the hospital once he got back to Pennsylvania, he died of complications from diphtheria. Back to Top |
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