Diphtheria is an acute respiratory tract infection caused by the toxigenic strains of Corynebacterium diphtheriae. It has the potential to cause severe morbidity and mortality through its complications such as myocarditis and neuropathies. It continues to be a public health concern since its re-emergence over the last couple of years in various Indian states. Apart from the school going children, recent outbreaks have seen an age shift towards older children, adolescents, and adults. Plugging of gaps in the routine immunization coupled with inclusion of booster doses in the national data on diphtheria vaccination is the need of the hour.
D. Sagar (Tue,) studied this question.