Diphtheria

Abstract

Diphtheria is an acute infectious and communicable disease caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae. The organism infects primarily the respiratory tract, where it causes tonsillopharyngitis and/or laryngitis, classically with a pseudomembrane, and the skin, causing a variety of indolent lesions. If the infecting strain produces exotoxin, organ damage, especially myocarditis and neuritis, may ensue. The incidence of the disease has declined to low levels in most industrialized nations due to mass immunization with diphtheria toxoid. However, in the 1990s a diphtheria epidemic occurred throughout the former Soviet Union, resulting in more than 157,000 reported cases and 5,000 deaths. Thus, it is not safe to assume that diphtheria will remain a disease of the past. © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2009.