Diphtheria

Researchers from India, the U.K. and Russia anticipate an increase in incidence of diphtheria which may be fomented by the diversity of the species, emergence of variant toxin genes and progression of antimicrobial resistance.

Diphtheria is a serious infection caused by strains of bacteria called Corynebacterium diphtheriae that make a toxin (poison). It is the toxin that can cause people to get very sick. It can lead to difficulty breathing, heart failure, paralysis, and even death
Diphtheria bacteria spread from person to person, usually through respiratory droplets, like from coughing or sneezing. People can also get sick from touching infected open sores or ulcers.
Diphtheria is a vaccine preventable disease – the toxoid vaccine elicits an immune response against the toxin which is encoded by a tox gene of the pathogen

There is an increasing trend in the number of cases of diphtheria globally, as the number of cases in 2018 (16,651) was double the 1996–2017 average (8,105).
Relevant to India is the statistic that 50% of the cases that came up in 2018 were in India. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), India reported 2,365 cases in 2015. However, in 2016, 2017 and 2018, the numbers rose successively to 3,380, 5,293 and 8,788.

The diphtheria vaccine is included in India’s Universal Immunization Program.
According to data from the National Family Health Survey-4, diphtheria vaccine coverage is 78.4 percent.

India started the Expanded Programme on Immunisation in 1978
The program’s first three vaccines were BCG (tuberculosis), DPT (diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus), and cholera.
The programme was renamed the Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP) in 1985
DPT remains a component of UIP, which now includes 12 vaccines.
It is now included in a pentavalent vaccine (containing a vaccine against diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, Hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenzae type B).
It is also included in the combination of eight vaccine doses given during the first year of life as part of the full immunisation programme.
The Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) 3.0 scheme was recently launched to cover children and pregnant women who did not receive routine immunisation during the Covid-19 pandemic.

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