Diphtheria: Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis & Treatment
Diphtheria
Diphtheria is a severe bacterial infection that typically affects the skin, nose, throat, and/or tonsils. Droplet transmission is how the disease spreads from one person to another. Most of the time, an infected person inhales bacteria when they cough, sneeze, or even laugh.
Diphtheria can also be spread by handling tissues that have been used before or by drinking from an infected person's glass. Touching infected sores on people with the skin form of diphtheria can also make people sick. The diphtheria bacteria produce a toxin that causes illness in humans. Diphtheria can result in difficulty breathing, heart failure, paralysis, and even death.
Causes Of Diphtheria
Diphtheria is a disease that can be easily passed from person to person through droplets in the air or contaminated personal items. Corynebacterium diphtheriae is a type of bacteria that causes diphtheria. In most cases, the disease is passed from one person to another or through contact with objects containing bacteria, such as a cup or used tissue. You could also contract diphtheria if you are near an infected person when they sneeze, cough, or blow their nose.
A person infected with diphtheria can still spread the bacterial infection for up to six weeks after the initial infection, even if they don't show any symptoms.
Your throat and nose are typically infected with the bacteria. Toxins are harmful substances that bacteria release once they have infected you. The toxins travel throughout your body and frequently result in the formation of a thick, gray coating in the nose, throat, tongue, and airway. In some cases, these toxins can also harm the kidneys, brain, and heart. This can result in problems that could put your life in danger, like myocarditis, kidney failure, and paralysis.
Risk Factors For Diphtheria
Factors that increase the risk of contracting diphtheria include:
- Anyone who travels to an area where diphtheria infections are more prevalent.
- People who travel internationally or come into contact with people from less developed nations.
- People are most at risk in areas where diphtheria vaccination is standard or inadequate because diphtheria is still prevalent in developing countries.
- Adults and children who have not received up-to-date vaccinations.
- People who live in crowded or unsanitary environments.
- People who have immune system diseases such as AIDS.
Symptoms Of Diphtheria
A diphtheria-infected person typically exhibits symptoms between two and five days after exposure. After exposure, it can take anywhere from one to ten days for symptoms to appear.
The most common symptoms of diphtheria include:
- Pain in the throat
- Sore throat
- Fatigue
- Weakness
- Fever
- Chills
- Barking cough
- Swollen glands in the neck
- Breathing difficulties as a result of tissues obstructing your nose and throat
- Dysphagia, difficulty swallowing
- Drolling
- Bluish skin
- Feeling of discomfort
- Problems with the heart, kidneys, or nerves (if the bacteria get into your bloodstream)
Diagnosis Of Diphtheria
Swollen lymph nodes will likely be discovered during a physical examination by your doctor. In addition, they will inquire about your symptoms and medical history.
If you have a gray coating on your throat or tonsils, your doctor might think you have diphtheria. A sample of the affected tissue will be sent to a laboratory for testing if your doctor needs to confirm the diagnosis. If your doctor thinks that diphtheria of the skin is the cause, a throat culture may also be taken.
Complications Of Diphtheria
Long-term complications associated with diphtheria include the following:
- Obstruction of your airways
- Muscle damage to your heart
- Nerve damage to your body
- Sluggishness or lack of energy
- Paralyse (inability to move)
- Infection of the lung or loss of lung function
Treatment Of Diphtheria
Diphtheria is a deadly disease. It is treated aggressively and immediately by doctors. First, doctors check to see if the airway is open or blocked. To keep the airway open until the inflammation subsides, they may need to insert a breathing tube into the throat. Some treatments are:
Antibiotics: To treat infections, antibiotics like penicillin and erythromycin aid in the killing of bacteria in the body. The duration of a diphtheria patient's infectiousness is decreased by antibiotics.
Diphtheria Antitoxin: A medication that neutralizes the body's diphtheria toxin will be prescribed if a doctor suspects diphtheria. This drug, which is injected into a vein or muscle, is known as an antitoxin. Doctors may conduct skin allergy tests before administering an antitoxin. These steps are taken to ensure that the person infected does not have an allergy to the antitoxin. If a person has an allergy, the doctor will probably tell them not to take the antitoxin.
Patients with diphtheria, both children and adults, frequently require hospitalization for treatment. Because diphtheria can easily spread to people who haven't been vaccinated against it, they may be isolated in an intensive care unit.
When diphtheria patients start taking antibiotics, they typically stop being able to spread the disease to other people 48 hours later. However, to ensure that the bacteria are eliminated from the body, it is essential to complete the antibiotic treatment. The doctor will conduct tests to ensure that the bacteria are no longer present in the patient's body after the patient has completed the treatment course.
Prevention Of Diphtheria
Antibiotics and vaccines can stop diphtheria from spreading. DTaP is the name of the diphtheria vaccine, which is typically given in a single shot alongside tetanus and pertussis vaccines. Five shots are required to administer the DTaP vaccine. It is distributed to children at the ages of 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 15 to 18 months, and 4 to 6 years.
A vaccine allergic reaction may occur in rare instances. This can cause hives or seizures that eventually go away. Your child will need to be vaccinated once more around the age of 12 because vaccines only last for ten years. A single booster shot against diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis is recommended for adults. You will receive the tetanus-diphtheria (Td) vaccine every ten years after that. If you or your child follow these steps, diphtheria can be avoided in the future.
Lifestyle Modifications Effective In Diphtheria
Diphtheria recovery necessitates extensive bed rest. If your heart has been affected, it is especially important to avoid any physical activity. Due to pain and difficulty swallowing, you may need to consume liquids and soft foods for a while to get your nutrition.
When you are contagious, strict isolation helps to stop the infection from spreading. To stop the infection from spreading, everyone in your home needs to wash their hands carefully.
A complete dose of the diphtheria vaccine will be required to prevent a recurrence once you recover from diphtheria. Diphtheria infection does not guarantee lifetime immunity, unlike other infections. If you are not fully immunized against diphtheria, you may contract the disease multiple times.