Diphtheria can cause serious complications, like paralysis not being able to move , pneumonia lung infection , and lung failure. It can also be deadly, especially for certain age groups — 1 in 10 people will die from diphtheria even with treatment.
Getting vaccinated is the best way to prevent diphtheria. And when enough people get vaccinated against diphtheria, the entire community is less likely to get it. So when you and your family get vaccinated, you help keep yourselves and your community healthy.
Learn more about how vaccines help protect your whole community. Diphtheria is caused by a type of bacteria. It creates a thick coating of dead tissue in the throat or nose, which makes it hard to breathe and swallow. Other symptoms include:. Everyone needs diphtheria vaccines throughout their lives. That means everyone needs to get vaccinated as babies, children, and adults. Young children need the DTaP vaccine as part of their routine vaccine schedule. Young children need a dose of the vaccine at:.
If your child has had a serious reaction to the whooping cough part of the DTaP vaccine, they may be able to get the DT vaccine instead.
Older children need 1 booster shot of the Tdap vaccine at age 11 or 12 as part of their routine vaccine schedule. Adults need 1 booster shot of the Td vaccine every 10 years as part of their routine vaccine schedule.
Specific signs and symptoms of diphtheria depend on the particular strain of bacteria involved, and the site of the body affected. One type of diphtheria, more common in the tropics, causes skin ulcers rather than respiratory infection. These cases are usually less serious than the classic cases that can lead to severe illness and sometimes death.
The classic case of diphtheria is an upper respiratory infection caused by bacteria. It produces a gray pseudomembrane, or a covering that looks like a membrane, over the lining of the nose and throat, around the area of the tonsils. This pseudomembrane may also be greenish or blueish, and even black if there has been bleeding. Children with a diphtheria infection in a cavity behind the nose and mouth are more likely to have the following early features:.
After a person is first infected with the bacteria, there is an average incubation period of 5 days before early signs and symptoms appear. After the initial symptoms have appeared, within 12 to 24 hours, a pseudomembrane will begin to form if the bacteria are toxic, leading to:. If the membrane extends to the larynx, hoarseness and a barking cough are more likely, as is the danger of complete obstruction of the airway.
The membrane may also extend further down the respiratory system toward the lungs. Potentially life-threatening complications can occur if the toxin enters the bloodstream and damages other vital tissues. Myocarditis is an inflammation of the heart muscle.
It can lead to heart failure, and the greater the degree of bacterial infection, the higher the toxicity to the heart. Myocarditis might cause abnormalities that are only apparent on a heart monitor, but it has the potential to cause sudden death. Heart problems usually appear 10 to 14 days after the start of the infection, although problems can take weeks to appear.
Heart problems associated with diphtheria include:. Neuritis is inflammation of nerve tissue that results in damage to nerves. This complication is relatively uncommon and usually appears after a severe respiratory infection with diphtheria. Typically, the condition develops as follows:. If the bacterial infection affects tissues other than the throat and respiratory system, such as the skin, the illness is generally milder.
This is because the body absorbs lower amounts of the toxin, especially if the infection only affects the skin. The infection can coexist with other infections and skin conditions and may look no different from eczema , psoriasis , or impetigo. However, diphtheria in the skin can produce ulcers where there is no skin at the center with clear edges and sometimes grayish membranes. There are definitive tests for diagnosing a case of diphtheria, so if symptoms and history cause a suspicion of the infection, it is relatively straightforward to confirm the diagnosis.
Doctors should be suspicious when they see the characteristic membrane, or patients have unexplained pharyngitis, swollen lymph nodes in the neck, and low-grade fever. Tissue samples taken from a patient with suspected diphtheria can be used to isolate the bacteria, which are then cultured for identification and tested for toxicity:. Diphtheria can infect the respiratory tract parts of the body involved in breathing and skin.
In the respiratory tract, it causes a thick, gray coating to build up in the throat or nose. This coating can make it hard to breathe and swallow. Diphtheria skin infections can cause open sores or shallow ulcers. Skip directly to site content Skip directly to page options Skip directly to A-Z link. Section Navigation. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Syndicate. Minus Related Pages.
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