What is diphtheria, its symptoms and prevention of infection

Diphtheria and vaccination against it

Diphtheria is a dangerous infectious disease, the only way to prevent it is vaccination. For many, vaccination against diphtheria is something scary and dangerous, but in fact it is part of the mandatory disease prevention program. Doctors do not give a full guarantee that infection will not happen, but even during an epidemic and when infected, the disease will pass in a milder form, if diphtheria prevention was carried out.

Symptoms of diphtheria

Often, the initial stage of diphtheria is confused with a common acute respiratory infection, the characteristic manifestations are elevated body temperature, general malaise, and muscle pain. After 2-3 days, a characteristic white plaque appears on the tonsils, which later becomes dense and gray. The person's condition worsens, the voice becomes hoarse, there is constant pain in the throat when swallowing. The patient deliberately refuses food. Against the background of such deterioration of health, there are no runny noses, coughs, lacrimation and other signs of respiratory diseases.

Symptoms of diphtheria in children are the same as in adults. A characteristic difference is an increase in temperature to critical levels even with a plaque formed on the tonsils. After a few days, the clinical picture begins to change - the plaque disappears, the patient's condition almost returns to normal. However, the danger to health and even life remains, because diphtheria exotoxin is present in the blood, which affects the kidneys, liver, heart and nervous system. Without proper treatment and vaccination, the development of such complications as nephrosis, myocarditis, and dystrophic liver damage is possible.

How diphtheria is diagnosed

The disease is accompanied by specific clinical manifestations, so the diagnosis of diphtheria does not cause difficulties. Only in the first days, the doctor may mistake general malaise and elevated body temperature for a cold. But as soon as plaque is formed, doubts disappear.

In order not to make a mistake in the diagnosis and not to confuse the diphtheria plaque on the tonsils with angina, a test is performed: the doctor tries to remove the plaque with a cotton swab or a special spatula. If the patient has tonsillitis, it can be done easily and quickly, but with diphtheria this procedure is impossible without traumatizing the mucous membrane of the tonsils with the subsequent formation of ulcers and erosions.

To confirm the diagnosis, a swab is taken from the throat for diphtheria and the presence of diphtheria bacillus in the patient's body is confirmed in laboratory conditions.

General principles of diphtheria treatment

Treatment is carried out in the infectious department of the hospital in a separate box. As part of the therapy, the following appointments are appropriate:

1. Strict bed rest.
2. Light gentle diet.
3. Introduction of anti-diphtheria serum, which deactivates the toxin and prevents the development of severe complications. The sooner the serum is administered, the more chances the patient has for a full recovery.
4. Antibacterial therapy. Priority is given to penicillins, cephalosporins and macrolides, which reduce the chance of transmission of the pathogen in the body. The course of treatment with antibiotics is an average of 10 days.

During the treatment of diphtheria, the patient regularly receives control swabs from the throat to determine the effectiveness of the therapy. Relatives of the patient should also be examined for infection.

Diphtheria vaccination

It is carried out by administering diphtheria toxoid. In childhood, a complex vaccine is prescribed that protects the body from several infectious diseases at once. Diphtheria vaccination is carried out for children according to the vaccination schedule - at 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 18 months, at 6 and 16 years, and then in adulthood every 10 years. Many people wonder where the diphtheria vaccine is injected? Children are vaccinated intramuscularly in the thigh or left forearm, adults - subcutaneously.

Immediately after the vaccine is administered, a healthy person may have a slight increase in body temperature (subfebrile indicators), mild chills, drowsiness, and general malaise. These side effects after diphtheria vaccination are considered normal, but if the state of health does not improve within 3 days, you should consult a doctor for advice.

Before administering the diphtheria vaccine, the patient must undergo a full examination and make sure that he is healthy. Contraindications for vaccination are anaphylactic shock with the previous administration of such a vaccine, severe immunodeficiency and acute illness with a temperature above 38 C.

More detailed information about how the vaccination is carried out and what to do if the diphtheria vaccination hurts can be obtained from our specialists. Contact phone numbers are on the Dobrobut.com pages.

Article author / reviewer - Rykov Oleksiy Arkadiyovych