Post : Where Are the Latest Diphtheria Outbreaks?
URL : [link removed]
Posted : May 7, 2024 at 1:25 pm
Author : Vincent Iannelli, MD
Tags : diphtheria, diphtheria deaths, diphtheria outbreaks, DTaP, Tdap, unvaccinated, vaccinated vs unvaccinated
Categories : Immunization News

Wait, diphtheria outbreaks?

[link removed]

We are still having diphtheria outbreaks?!?

Remembering Diphtheria

Tragically, even though a diphtheria vaccine has been available for over 100 years, diphtheria is once again a big killer around the world.

[link removed] A doctor with the UK’s Emergency Medical Team checks a child for symptoms of diphtheria ( [link removed] ) in a makeshift clinic in the Kutupalong camp for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. Photo Russell Watkins ( [link removed] ) /Department for International Development CC BY 2.0 Deed

This is the same diphtheria bacteria that can make a toxin that kills respiratory tissue, forming a pseudomembrane that can cover a child's nose and throat. A pseudomembrane that makes it hard to breath and swallow, which is why respiratory diphtheria is so deadly.

[link removed]

Diphtheria can also cause a less severe skin infection.

Where Are the Latest Diphtheria Outbreaks?

But diphtheria, which is also known as “the Strangling Angel,” more often causes deadly respiratory outbreaks and epidemics.

> "It had been over 30 years since the last case of diphtheria was seen in Guinea. So when patients began showing up six months ago with what looked like flu symptoms — fever, cough and sore throat – doctors weren't alarmed. Until the children started dying.
>
> That's when they realized that this longtime scourge, long quashed by vaccination, was back."
>
> Why diphtheria is making a comeback

Yes, even in the post-vaccine era we are still seeing outbreaks of diphtheria.

> "As of 14 January, 2024, a cumulative total of 27 991 suspected cases of diphtheria resulting in 828 fatalities have been reported across Nigeria, Guinea, Niger, Mauritania, and South Africa. Nigeria is the most severely affected, accounting for 80.1% of cases and 72 % of deaths."
>
> WHO African Region Health Emergency Situation Report - Multi-country Outbreak of Diphtheria, Consolidated Regional Situation Report # 006 – As of January 14, 2024

Diphtheria outbreaks in which most cases and deaths are unvaccinated children ( [link removed] ) .

> "There is also a particular risk from travel to countries where diphtheria remains more common, including Southeast Asia, Papua New Guinea, states of the former Soviet Union and eastern European countries."
>
> Diphtheria is back in Australia, here’s why – and how vaccines can prevent its spread

Diphtheria outbreaks with a case fatality rate, thanks to early treatment, of "only" 4.1%. Keep in mind that without treatment, up to 40% of children with diphtheria die!

Diphtheria outbreaks that highlight what happens when vaccination rates drop...

Diphtheria outbreaks that we can stop if we get more folks vaccinated and protected.

> "Yet recent diphtheria outbreaks in Europe, and several regions of Pakistan, have highlighted how even seemingly obsolete diseases can make a comeback, given the right opportunity."
>
> Why diphtheria presents a growing threat to our health

Disease outbreaks that will spread to other areas if we don't!

More on the Latest Diphtheria Outbreaks

* When Was the Last Case of Diphtheria? ( [link removed] )

* How Do You Remember Vaccine Preventable Diseases? ( [link removed] )

* We Know What Happens If We Stop Vaccinating ( [link removed] )

* Grave Reminders of Life Before Vaccines ( [link removed] )

* Disappearing Diseases ( [link removed] )

* WHO African Region Health Emergency Situation Report - Multi-country Outbreak of Diphtheria, Consolidated Regional Situation Report # 006 – As of January 14, 2024 ( [link removed] )

* Diphtheria outbreak in Nigeria ( [link removed](23)00330-0/fulltext )

* Diphtheria Outbreak in Africa: Strengthening Response Capacities ( [link removed] )

* Disease Outbreak News - Diphtheria - Nigeria ( [link removed] )

* Diphtheria is back in Australia, here’s why – and how vaccines can prevent its spread ( [link removed] )

* FACTSHEET: Vaccination gaps to blame as Nigeria battles surge in diphtheria ( [link removed] )

* Why diphtheria is making a comeback ( [link removed] )

* History of Diphtheria ( [link removed] )

* Why diphtheria presents a growing threat to our health ( [link removed] )

* Epidemiological update: Diphtheria cases in Europe ( [link removed] )

* The rising cases of diphtheria in Pakistan: A new epidemic boiling? ( [link removed] )

* Fatal case of diphtheria in an unvaccinated infant in Finland ( [link removed] )

* Two children diagnosed with first cases of diphtheria of the throat in NSW this century ( [link removed] )

--


Manage Subscriptions
[link removed]

Unsubscribe:
[link removed]