Diphtheria Antitoxin
Diphtheria Antitoxin (DAT) is not licensed by the Food and Drug Administration for use in the United States. CDC is authorized to distribute DAT to physicians as an Investigational New Drug (IND).
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Who Should Received DAT?
Therapeutic Use
Patients who have probable or confirmed respiratory diphtheria are eligible to receive DAT.
Clinical Respiratory Diphtheria is defined as an upper respiratory tract illness characterized by sore throat, a low grade fever, and an adherent membrane of the tonsil(s), pharynx, larynx, and/or nose.
A confirmed case is either a clinical case from which Corynebacterium diphtheriae is isolated or a clinical case that is epidemiologically linked to a laboratory-confirmed case.
A probable case is a clinically compatible case that is not laboratory confirmed and is not epidemiologically linked to a laboratory-confirmed case.
Prophylactic Use
DAT is used prophylactically only under exceptional circumstances involving known or suspected exposure to toxigenic Corynebacteria.
For more detailed information about case definitions and DAT use, see IND Protocol #4167, "Use of Diphtheria Antitoxin (DAT) for Suspected Diphtheria Cases." 
How to Request DAT
U.S. physicians caring for patients with suspected respiratory diphtheria can obtain DAT by contacting the Emergency Operations Center at 770-488-7100. The diphtheria duty officer at CDC's Meningitis and Vaccine Preventable Diseases (MVPD) Branch in the Division of Bacterial Diseases (DBD) of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD) will discuss the case and protocol for DAT release with the physician and, if indicated, DAT will be dispatched from one of the U.S. Public Health Service quarantine stations. A patient's eligibility for treatment with DAT is determined by the treating physician in consultation with a CDC diphtheria duty officer. However, the treating physician makes the final decision on its use and may decide against administering DAT after it is released.
How to Return Unused DAT
If the patient’s diagnosis is revised after the release of DAT and the diphtheria antitoxin (DAT) is not given to the patient, then it should be returned in a cold pack by overnight mail to:
CDC Drug Service (Mailstop D-09)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
1600 Clifton Road, Atlanta Georgia 30333
Phone: (404) 639-3717
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"Surveillance of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases" manual
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- Preventing Tetanus, Diphtheria, and Pertussis Among Adults:Use of Tetanus Toxoid, Reduced Diphtheria Toxoid and Acellular Pertussis Vaccine new
MMWR December 15, 2006 / Vol 55, No. RR17, p1 - General Recommendations on Immunization new
MMWR December 1, 2006 / Vol 55, No. RR15, p1 - Preventing Tetanus, Diphtheria, and Pertussis Among Adolescents:Use of Tetanus Toxoid, Reduced Diphtheria Toxoid and Acellular Pertussis Vaccines new MMWR March 24, 2006 / Vol 55, No. RR3, p1
- Fatal Respiratory Diphtheria in a U.S. Traveler to Haiti -- Pennsylvania, 2003 new
MMWR January 9, 2004 / Vol 52, No. 53, p1285 - Availability of Diphtheria Antitoxin Through an Investigational New Drug Protocol
MMWR May 21, 2004 / Vol 53, No. 19, p413 - Combination Vaccines for Childhood Immunization
MMWR May 14, 1999 / Vol 48, No. RR05, p1 - Toxigenic Corynebacterium diphtheriae -- Northern Plains Indians
MMWR June 6, 1997 / Vol 46, No. 22, p506 - Diphtheria, Tetanus, and Pertussis: Recommendations for Vaccine Use
MMWR August 8, 1991 / Vol 40, No. RR10, p001
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Content last reviewed on July 6, 2007
Content Source: National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases