Diphtheria in an Adult: A Paradigm of Waning Immunity
Correspondence Address :
Dr. Varsha Gupta,
Professor and Head, Department of Microbiology, Government Medical College and Hospital, Second Floor, Chandigarh, India.
E-mail: drivneet.kahlon1@gmail.com
In the past 10 years, there have been several reported cases of the existence of a vaccine-preventable disease from several Indian states. Diphtheria, re-emerge as a major public health problem as this fatal infection used to be noticed in toddlers and school-going has now been stated to occur amongst adults also despite the fully functional Universal Immunisation Program (UIP) in India. India contributed about 53.9% of diphtheria cases globally in the year 2016. In cases, the reason for the upsurge could be attributed to lack of proper immunisation or waning of vaccine-induced immunity with increasing age. Here, a case of a 24-year-old adult male was reported who presented with acute membranous tonsillitis, a preliminary diagnosis made on physical examination. Corynaebacterium diphtheriae was isolated. Finally, the isolate was confirmed as C. diphtheriae using Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) system.
Adult diphtheria, Pseudomembrane, Vaccine preventable infection
10.7860/JCDR/2021/49665.15409
Date of Submission: Mar 30, 2021
Date of Peer Review: May 14, 2021
Date of Acceptance: Aug 18, 2021
Date of Publishing: Sep 01, 2021
AUTHOR DECLARATION:
• Financial or Other Competing Interests: None
• Was informed consent obtained from the subjects involved in the study? Yes
• For any images presented appropriate consent has been obtained from the subjects. Yes
PLAGIARISM CHECKING METHODS:
• Plagiarism X-checker: Apr 02, 2021
• Manual Googling: Aug 16, 2021
• iThenticate Software: Aug 16, 2021 (7%)
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