Diphtheria is a severe bacterial illness that often affects the mucous membranes of the nose and throat, reports IOL. Toxic Corynebacterium diphtheriae C. Additionally, after contact tracing, another 20 tested positive for respiratory diphtheria and 20 were asymptomatic carriers. The NICD warned that since 11 November , there had been a marked increase in cases in the Western Cape, with 12 respiratory diphtheria cases and 12 asymptomatic contacts testing positive for toxigenic C.
In December, more than people living in the Philippi farmlands were tested for diphtheria after the death of an elderly woman in the Riemvasmaak informal community the previous week. The illness is preventable through immunisation with a vaccine, while treatment includes antibiotics azithromycin or penicillin to clear the organism from the throat and prevent onward transmission, and diphtheria anti-toxin DAT.
DAT is available through provincial pharmacies, although supplies are limited. Clinicians and chemists should acquire a source of DAT and establish emergency supply lines, it said. The NICD doctor-on-call can connect practitioners with infectious disease experts to discuss specific cases as required.
In Germany, a year-old boy died from a diphtheria infection in a Berlin hospital, German newspaper Tagesspiegel reported yesterday, saying the child had not had the well-established vaccination, according to Reuters. The child contracted the illness in October and had been in intensive care ever since, says Tagesspiegel. Germany's public health body, the Robert Koch Institute , said in an adult died from diphtheria in Germany and two adults died in Reuters β Berlin boy dies from diphtheria in rare German case, paper says.
Diphtheria prison outbreak contained. What declining childhood vaccine rates mean for SA. Helena St. It brings you a succinct summary of the latest developments, both in news and research, with links to the original material.
