The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) has issued an alert on respiratory diphtheria, which it says has been present since 2024, particularly in the Western Cape.
Diphtheria is a severe bacterial illness that often affects the mucous membranes of the nose and throat, reports IOL.
Toxic Corynebacterium diphtheriae (C. diphtheriae) was found in 40 people across the country between 1 January 2024 and 15 January this year, said the organisation. Additionally, after contact tracing, another 20 tested positive for respiratory diphtheria and 20 were asymptomatic carriers.
The NICD warned that since 11 November 2024, 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. diphtheria, all in Cape Town.
In December, more than 300 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).
The NICD said administering DAT as soon as possible could save lives.
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 (080 021 2552) can connect practitioners with infectious disease experts to discuss specific cases as required.
In Germany, a 10-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 2023 an adult died from diphtheria in Germany and two adults died in 2024. The institute says on its website that global cases have plunged by more than 90% between 1980 and 2010, citing the wide introduction of diphtheria vaccination.
IOL article – Urgent diphtheria alert: Rising cases in South Africa demand attention (Open access)
Reuters – Berlin boy dies from diphtheria in rare German case, paper says
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