Diphtheria | Medtick
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Diphtheria

What is it?

A highly contagious bacterial infection affecting mainly the nose, throat and at times the skin

  • One develops symptoms usually two to five days after exposure.

Contagious

Isolation is required even when appropriate antibiotics have been given and the person is clinically improving, and 2 consecutive negative throat/nasal cultures (often taken after treatment) confirm clearance. Close contacts may need Evaluation/testing , antibiotics and/or Vaccine review/booster

Diagnosis tests

  • Throat or nasal swab
  • Culture tests
    • Löffler’s medium / Tellurite agar
  • Elek test (Toxigenicity test)
  • Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)
  • Toxin detection assays
  • Complete blood count (CBC)
  • Electrocardiogram (ECG)/Cardiac enzymes tests – test for myocarditis
  • Chest X- ray
  • Pneumonia tests

Countries affected are:

Caribbean

  • Barbados
  • Dominican Republic
  • Haiti
  • Jamaica
  • Puerto Rico
  • Trinidad and Tobago

North America

  • Canada
  • Greenland
  • Mexico
  • Saint Pierre and Miquelon

Central America

  • Costa Rica
  • El Salvador
  • Guatemala
  • Honduras
  • Panama

South America

  • Argentina
  • Bolivia
  • Brazil
  • Chile (Easter Island)
  • Colombia
  • Ecuador (Galapagos Islands)
  • Paraguay
  • Peru
  • Suriname
  • Venezuela (Margarita Island)

Europe & Russia

  • Armenia
  • Austria
  • Azerbaijan
  • Bosnia Herzegovina
  • Bulgaria
  • Estonia
  • Faroe Islands
  • Georgia
  • Latvia
  • Lithuania
  • Montenegro
  • Netherlands
  • Republic of Moldova
  • Romania
  • Russian Federation
  • San Marino
  • Serbia
  • Ukraine

Africa

  • Angola
  • Benin
  • Burkina Faso
  • Cameroon
  • Cape Verde
  • Central African Republic
  • Chad
  • Comoros
  • Congo
  • Côte d’Ivoire
  • Democratic Republic of Congo
  • Djibouti
  • Equatorial Guinea
  • Eritrea
  • Ethiopia
  • Gabon
  • Ghana
  • Guinea
  • Guinea-Bissau
  • Kenya
  • Liberia
  • Libya
  • Madagascar
  • Malawi
  • Mali
  • Mauritania
  • Mozambique
  • Namibia
  • Niger
  • Nigeria
  • Réunion
  • Rwanda
  • Saint Helena
  • São Tomé and Príncipe
  • Senegal
  • Sierra Leone
  • Somalia
  • South Africa
  • South Sudan
  • Sudan
  • Togo
  • United Republic of Tanzania (Zanzibar)
  • Uganda
  • Zambia
  • Zimbabwe

Middle East

  • Iran
  • Iraq
  • Israel and Occupied Palestinian Territories
  • Lebanon
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Syria
  • United Arab Emirates (Dubai, Abu Dhabi)
  • Yemen

Asia

  • Afghanistan
  • Pakistan
  • Tajikistan
  • Turkmenistan
  • Bangladesh
  • Laos
  • Malaysia (Sarawak, Sabah)
  • Myanmar
  • Nepal
  • India
  • Philippines
  • Sri Lanka
  • Thailand
  • Timor-Leste
  • Vietnam

Australasia and Pacific

  • American Samoa
  • Australia
  • Federated States Of Micronesia
  • Guam
  • Kiribati
  • Marshall Islands
  • Nauru
  • New Zealand
  • Northern Mariana Islands
  • Palau
  • Papua New Guinea
  • Pitcairn
  • Samoa
  • Solomon Islands
  • Tokelau
  • Tonga
  • Tuvalu (Ellice Islands)
  • Vanuatu

Cause

  • Bacteria: Corynebacterium diphtheriae, Corynebacterium ulcerans
  • Direct contact: Other infected persons via coughing and sneezing and saliva contact (Kissing)
  • Indirect contact: Touching products that infected persons already touched i.e. utensils, bed Linen, clothing (rare)
  • Consumption of Raw dairy foods (rare)
  • Cattle (rare)
  • Cats (rare)
  • Dogs (rare)

Symptoms

  • High temperature greater than 38°C (100°F) or over and/or chills and sweats longer than 72 hours?
  • Headache which is on and off or a constant headache longer than 24 hours?
  • Sore throat longer than seven days?
  • General discomfort (muscle weakness), uneasiness or ill feeling (malaise) and/or fatigue (tiredness)?
  • Difficulty or pain when swallowing?
  • Swollen lymph glands and/or reoccurring mouth ulcers?
  • Runny nose, congestion, cold not cleared by over the counter medication or greater than three weeks?
  • Foul-smelling and/or blood-stained nasal discharge?
  • Mouth infection, Grey-white coating that covers inside ones throat and tonsils and when trying to remove it, bleeding occurs?
  • Dry cough longer than three weeks or breathing difficulties?

Skin diphtheria:

  • New rash that has appeared or existing rash getting worst, Pus-filled spots on skin on legs, feet and hands?
  • Spots forming to a large ulcer surrounded by dis-coloured red patch sore looking skin?
  • Punched out-ulcer with no distinct margins covered in a grey white membrane?

Complications /Information to beware of/General tips:

Medical Emergency Condition

And/or do not wait, phone for an ambulance if have or develop:

  • Neurological problems
  • Breathing difficulties and wheezing (it can lead to diaphragm paralysis,during infection and weeks after infection)
  • Abdominal pain and/or are constant violently vomiting or vomiting longer than two days (one day if a child)?
  • Bladder concerns:
    • Needing to urinate often
    • only passing a small amount of urine
    • losing control of your bladder

This condition can lead to:

This condition may show similar symptoms to:

Please talk to your healthcare professional (i.e. Medical Doctor/Pharmacist) for further advice

Detailed Information

Please copy and paste any key words from the title: Diphtheria in the following respective 'Medtick References and/or Sources' to find out more about the disease (this also may include diagnosis tests and generic medical treatments).

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  • NHS

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  • WebMD

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  • Cleveland Clinic

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  • Drugs.com

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  • National Organisation of Rare Diseases

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  • Verywell Health

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  • Nathnac

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  • DR Axe

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  • Better health - NHS

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