Diphtheria deaths crashed after vaccines—then wait for gaps
Corynebacterium diphtheriae can be mild or, in outbreaks, kill nearly one in ten. A grey throat membrane, barky cough, and swollen neck mark severe cases driven by bacterial toxin. Global reported cases fell from nearly 100,000 in 1980 to 4,500 in 2015—but uneven vaccination can invite returns.
Symptoms usually begin two to five days after exposure with sore throat and fever, then may thicken into the airway-blocking pseudomembrane that gives the disease its dread. The bacterium can also strike skin, eyes, or genitals and spark myocarditis, neuritis with paralysis, kidney injury, or low platelets. Spread travels by droplets, direct contact, or contaminated objects; silent carriers and chronic infection complicate control. Strain differences and toxin output explain why some epidemics bite harder than others in the same region.
Childhood schedules typically give three or four doses with tetanus and pertussis shots, then diphtheria–tetanus boosters about every ten years. Antitoxin levels can verify protection; exposed people may get preventive treatment as well as care for active disease. Before the 1980s, roughly a million cases a year were believed to occur. In 2015 about 2,100 deaths were counted, down from 8,000 in 1990, with remaining burden concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Indonesia among under-vaccinated communities.
Hippocrates described the illness in the fifth century BC; Edwin Klebs identified the organism in 1882. Rich countries now see rarity—only fifty-seven U.S. cases between 1980 and 2004—yet case-fatality among the diagnosed still sits near five to ten percent. The membrane in the throat is a reminder that some historical killers retreat only as far as the last missed booster dose in a population.
Source: Diphtheria
