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Two cases of diphtheria, a serious infectious disease, have been detected in Australia. Two unvaccinated boys fell ill. These are the first cases of diphtheria in New South Wales since the 90s.
- Diphtheria is an acute infectious disease caused by a bacterium called diphtheria urethra
- The mortality rate is 5-10, in the case of the youngest children, even 20%.
- Vaccinations eradicated the disease in many countries back in the XNUMXth century. However, in some regions there are increasing numbers of vaccination refusals
- New South Wales, where diphtheria cases have been detected for the first time in three decades, has the lowest child immunization rates in Australia
- More information can be found on the Onet homepage
Two cases of diphtheria in Australia
Two cases of diphtheria within two days were detected in New South Wales, the south-eastern state of Australia. Two brothers, a two-year-old and a six-year-old fell ill. The first one is currently in the intensive care unit, the older one is also in the hospital on preventive care.
These are the first cases of the disease in New South Wales since the 90s.
Diphtheria is an acute infectious disease caused by a bacterium called diphtheria urethra. In the early XNUMXth century, it caused more deaths in Australia than it did any other infectious disease. Thanks to vaccinations, introduced throughout the country in 1932, the disease was eliminated. It remains endemic in countries where there are no universal vaccination programs, and the isolated cases detected in Australia in recent years relate to imported infections.
Both boys were not vaccinated against diphtheria.
“I am confident that the boy’s treatment will be effective and that the doctors will manage the disease,” said Dr. Paul Douglas, director of North Coast Public Health, of the two-year-old.
Diphtheria mortality may be 5-10%, and in children under five it can be as much as 20%. However, as Douglas pointed out, “these numbers are based on very old data because we have not seen this disease in a long time”.
– Medicine has changed a lot since then. We now have antitoxin therapies and antibiotics, he added.
Why did diphtheria come back?
According to Douglas, the two detected cases of infection do not have a foreign source, but are local. “The bacterium itself is endemic to our community,” he explained.
– It’s like tetanus, it’s always around somewhere. And if the right conditions are met, someone could be infected. I believe someone fully immunized was a carrier of the bacteria in the wound or airways and then came into contact with and infected unvaccinated children, Douglas said, assuring the risk of further spreading of the disease was “almost zero”.
– I have a fantastic team that tracked all contacts. Except for this two-year-old’s brother, they all tested negative. We gave them antibiotics and offered to vaccinate them. We believe that we have successfully limited the potential epidemic, he said.
Douglas also called for all who did not get vaccinated before, and for people aged 50 and over to take a booster dose.
New South Wales, the country where diphtheria was detected, has the highest vaccination refusals and the lowest levels of diphtheria immunization in Australia. Data from 2021 shows 84,7 percent. vaccinated children, while in other regions the figure is 91-96%.
Diphtheria – what is it?
Diphtheria is an acute infectious disease caused by a toxin produced by the gram-positive coryneform bacteria Clostridium diphtheriae. The disease, also known as diphtheria, croup, or angina, most commonly occurs in children.
We become infected with diphtheria through airborne droplets and through direct contact with a sick person or carrier. The bacterium, getting into the patient’s body through the nose or mouth, occupies the mucous membranes of the upper respiratory tract. Occasionally, the conjunctiva, middle ear, genital mucosa, or wounded skin may be affected. The bacterium produces a toxin that penetrates through damaged mucous membranes and, getting into the bloodstream, can damage many internal organs, such as the kidneys, adrenal glands, heart, liver, and the central nervous system.
If not properly treated, the disease can cause permanent damage and even death. The local action of the toxin causes gray raids adhering to the substrate – pseudo-membranes (hence the name diphtheria). Trying to remove these membranes causes bleeding.
Diphtheria is spread by droplets, less frequently through wounds, and exceptionally through food. The source of the infection is the sick person, convalescent or carrier.
Diphtheria in Poland
In Poland, in the first half of the 50s, there was a large epidemic of diphtheria. Annually, it was up to 24-44 thousand. cases and 1,6-3 thousand. deaths.
Mass vaccination was introduced in 1954. It brought the disease under control. In the years 1981-2000, isolated cases of the disease were reported, mainly related to travel to the eastern border of Poland, where there was an epidemic of this disease.
Since 2001, no case of diphtheria has been reported in Poland.
Diphtheria – symptoms
The most common symptoms of diphtheria are:
- sore throat,
- high fever,
- high heart rate
- laryngeal dysfunction;
- white almond bloom;
- bad heart work;
- bad breath;
- enlarged lymph nodes;
- changes in the nasopharynx;
- paleness;
- low blood pressure.
Diphtheria – treatment
Treatment of diphtheria is quite complicated. First, remove all sources of infection and, of course, isolate the sick person so that they do not infect other people. Diagnosis of diphtheria is performed by a laboratory test in which a throat swab is taken to detect the presence of corynebral diphtheria in the affected areas. The isolation of the patient from the environment may be interrupted if the presence of bacteria in the samples taken from the patient’s nose and throat within six days is not confirmed.
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Treatment of diphtheria consists of administration of a dose of serum containing diphtheria antitoxin and administration of antibiotics, most often penicillin, if there is another infection of the throat, e.g. streptococcal infection. Penicillin, thanks to its properties, destroys bacteria that spread in the throat and on the skin. However, the antibiotic is not able to prevent the effects of the toxins produced by the bacteria – coryneform bacteria. Here, antitoxins work to prevent the demyelination process, which in turn causes disturbances in the functioning of the nervous system.
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