Pretoria – South Africa has recorded two positive cases of the Diphtheria disease, but health authorities on Thursday called for calm.
Health Minister Dr. Joe Phaahla called for “vigilance and for the public not to panic as the country records two positive cases of Diphtheria disease”.
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), a Division of the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) has alerted the department of two laboratory-confirmed cases of diphtheria disease that were detected in April 2023.
The first case was in an adult in KwaZulu-Natal and the second case was in the Western Cape in a child.
Diphtheria is an uncommon, but vaccine-preventable serious infection caused by a toxin-producing bacterium called Corynebacterium diphtheria.
The toxin may lead to difficulty in breathing, heart rhythm problems, and even death.
The bacteria spread from person to person, usually through respiratory droplets from coughing or sneezing.
The symptoms of diphtheria include sore throat (with the formation of a membrane on the tonsil and throat), and swollen glands in the front of the neck.
Close contacts of known cases are at increased risk of infection.
Routine diphtheria vaccination is part of the childhood vaccine programme and parents are encouraged to get their children vaccinated.
The vaccine should be given to all children as part of the routine vaccines in the first year of life.
Booster doses at the age of six and 12 years should also be given.
Catch-up vaccination is possible if doses have been missed.
Diphtheria antitoxin is in short supply globally; the World Health Organization is working to secure additional supplies of antitoxin.
Treatment in the absence of anti-toxin is appropriate antibiotics and supportive care.
These cases are a reminder that a drop in vaccine coverage may lead to more cases.
“All parents are urged to make sure that their children are up to date for routine vaccines,” Health Departmental Spokesperson Foster Mohale.
“Children who are not up to date for vaccines should be taken to the nearest clinic for vaccination.”
Mohale said clinicians (including primary health care nurses) throughout the country have been urged to have a high index of suspicion for diphtheria, and to notify suspected cases and to send specimens to the laboratory for testing.
Laboratories are being encouraged to screen all throat swabs for diphtheria and send all confirmed cases to the Centre for Respiratory Diseases and Meningitis at the NICD.
For all technical enquiries, please contact Professor Cheryl Cohen: Head of the Centre for Respiratory Diseases and Meningitis, National Institute for Communicable Diseases at Media@nicd.ac.za or Sinenhlahla Jimoh on 0826099514
