Diphtheria is a serious bacterial infection. You can catch it from a person who has the infection and coughs or sneezes. It usually affects the nose and throat and causes a bad sore throat, swollen glands, fever and chills. But if it is not properly diagnosed and treated it produces a poison in the body that can cause serious complications such as heart failure or paralysis.
The diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus (DPT) vaccine can prevent diphtheria, but its protection does not last forever. Adults should get another dose, or booster, every 10 years. Diphtheria is very rare in the United States because of the vaccine.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Vaccines and Preventable Diseases: Diphtheria In-Short(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/diphtheria/in-short-both.htm
- Diphtheria(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/diphtheria/DS00495/DSECTION=all&METHOD=print
- Facts about Diphtheria for Adults(National Foundation for Infectious Diseases) - Links to PDF - http://www.nfid.org/pdf/factsheets/diphtadult.pdf
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Diphtheria Tetanus & Pertussis Vaccine: What You Need to Know(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - Links to PDF - http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/vis/downloads/vis-dtap.pdf
Also available in Spanish http://www.immunize.org/vis/spdtap01.pdf
- Diphtheria Vaccination(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/diphtheria/
- Ask the Experts: Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis(Immunization Action Coalition) - http://www.immunize.org/askexperts/experts_per.asp
- Diphtheria: Health Information for International Travel(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://wwwn.cdc.gov/travel/yellowBookCh4-Diphtheria.aspx
- Diphtheria Photos(Immunization Action Coalition) - http://www.vaccineinformation.org/diphther/photos.asp
- Diphtheria: ElectricAirway: Upper Airway Problems in Children(Virtual Hospital) - http://www.virtualpediatrichospital.org/providers/ElectricAirway/PathImages/DiptheriaPseudo.shtml
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Diphtheria
(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/condition=%22Diphtheria%22
- Article: Administration of tetanus, diphtheria, and acellular pertussis vaccine to parents... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18762489&tool=MedlinePlus
- Article: Recurrence of cardiorespiratory events following repeat DTaP-based combined immunization in... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18718262&tool=MedlinePlus
- Article: Blast from the past. - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18686395&tool=MedlinePlus
- Diphtheria -- see more articles - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=(diphtheria[majr]+OR+diphtheria+toxin[majr]+OR+corynebacterium+diphtheriae[majr]+OR+diphtheria+toxoid[majr])+NOT+neoplasms[majr]+AND+humans[mh]+AND+english[la]+NOT+(letter[pt]+OR+editorial[pt]+OR+case+reports[pt])&doptcmdl=summary&cmd_current=Limits&pmfilter_EDatLimit=last+1+Year&tool=MedlinePlus
- National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/
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National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/
- World Health Organization - http://www.who.int/en/
- Diphtheria: Immunization Surveillance, Assessment and Monitoring(World Health Organization) - http://www.who.int/immunization_monitoring/diseases/diphteria/en/index.html
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Diphtheria(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/parent/infections/bacterial_viral/diphtheria.html
Also available in Spanish http://kidshealth.org/parent/en_espanol/infecciones/diphtheria_esp.html
- Childhood Immunization - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/childhoodimmunization.html
- Ear, Nose and Throat - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/earnoseandthroat.html
- Infections - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/infections.html
The primary NIH organization for research on Diphtheria is the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - http://www.niaid.nih.gov/
Diphtheria - Multiple Languages - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/languages/diphtheria.html