Diphtheria is a dangerous bacterial infectious disease that belongs to the major field of childhood diseases and is notifiable. The infection is transmitted by droplets or contact of infected people and objects. This means that we have a group disease that occurs more frequently in kindergartens or schools.
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The period of infection until the outbreak of diphtheria (incubation period) is between hours and about five days. At first, it was believed that the disease had been virtually eradicated after decades of routine vaccination with a kind of antidote (toxoids). However, after the so-called fall of the Iron Curtain, the number of cases is increasing again.
Diphtheria is a local infection of the nose, throat and larynx, which can cause life-threatening conditions, especially in the larynx. The disease begins with loss of appetite, fatigue and pain when swallowing, as well as pain when speaking. The tonsils become covered with a gray-white milk-like skin or pseudomembrane, which causes bleeding when touched or injured. If the diphtheria descends into the larynx, the membrane also forms there on the vocal cords, which as a result narrows the glottis and makes it more and more difficult to take a breath.
A characteristic that occurs only in diphtheria, and thus in no other infection, is the sweet smell from the mouth (foetor ex ore). In the course of diphtheria, the most serious complications can occur due to toxic damage to the entire organism, such as the heart and the central nervous system. Or our vascular muscles of the bloodstream are brought to a standstill, which leads to death.
Therapy: It is important to inject diphtheria serum as quickly as possible and to take antibiotics, since nerve damage cannot be neutralized retroactively. If necessary, a tracheotomy can be performed if there is a risk of suffocation.
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#diphtheria #ICD10A36 #children #childhood diseases
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