Diphtheria is a serious bacterial infection caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae. It primarily affects the nose and throat, forming a thick gray membrane, but can also involve the skin. While rare in vaccinated populations, it can be life-threatening if untreated.
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Diphtheria has a long and devastating history, causing major epidemics globally, especially among children, before the 20th century. The bacterium responsible, *Corynebacterium diphtheriae*, was identified by Edwin Klebs in 1884. The development of an antitoxin and later a highly effective vaccine dramatically reduced its incidence and mortality, making its control a major public health success story.
Diphtheria primarily spreads from person to person through respiratory droplets released when an infected individual coughs, sneezes, or talks. Less commonly, it can be transmitted through direct contact with infected skin lesions or contaminated objects. Close and prolonged contact is generally required for transmission.
Contagious Period: Varies by disease
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The trial dried out the tetanus-diphtheria vaccine with trehalose to protect its vital components.
Prof Saul Faust, the director of the NIHR Clinical Research Facility in Southampton, said it gave "equivalent" immune responses to the conventional vaccine as well as being "safe and well tolerated" in the early stage studies.
Faust added: "This obviously has potential to remove cold chain dependence, reduce wastage and improve access."
A larger trial involving 160 people is already due to start
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Diphtheria cases are on the rise in Australia [FILE] (Image: Getty Images) Australia is battling its worst diphtheria outbreak in decades, with more than 230 cases reported this year and one confirmed death, prompting urgent travel warnings for unvaccinated Britons. Health authorities declared the highly contagious bacterial infection a "Communicable Disease Incident of National Significance" on May 22, 2026. Australia's chief medical officer, Professor Michael Kidd AO, stated: "This is the largest outbreak since national records began in 1991." Cases began rising steadily in late 2025 before surging sharply from February. The majority have been recorded in the Northern Territory and Western Australia, with additional infections in South Australia and Queensland. The outbreak has hit Abori...
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Some of the misinformation circulating online about the outbreak has falsely linked it to migration. Once one of Australia's most feared childhood diseases, diphtheria killed thousands of children before vaccination programs introduced in the 1930s all but eliminated the infection for decades. The disease became so rare that many doctors never encountered a case. But Australia is now experiencing its largest outbreak since national records began, with more than 230 cases reported in 2026, with the most cases in the Northern Territory. Cases have also been detected in Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia, while one death in the Northern Territory is believed to have been caused by the disease. As authorities work to contain the outbreak, health experts say misinformation circul...
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Australian authorities and communities are urgently trying to bring a major diphtheria outbreak across several states under control. The Northern Territory government is investigating at least one death and there are concerted efforts to lift vaccination and booster rates in affected areas, with the federal government committing an extra seven million dollars in funding. Meanwhile there are concerns poor quality housing and over-crowding are also contributing to the spread of diphtheria in remote communities. Guest: Dr Simon Quilty, co-founder of Indigenous led housing initiative Wilya Janta
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This event envelope contains reports on diphtheria in Czechia.
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A second diphtheria-related death in the Northern Territory has underscored the spread of the rare bacterial infection across jurisdictions as health authorities continue tracking an outbreak not seen in decades.
The ABC has confirmed a man in his early 60s has died after contracting diphtheria in the Northern Territory.
He had pre-existing heart conditions and was from a remote Central Australian community before dying at Alice Springs Hospital on Sunday.
It marks the second reported death li
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On Wednesday afternoon, Shravani Patil had gone to the vaccination center.
A 17-year-old girl has died minutes after receiving a Tetanus and Diphtheria (TD) injection at a vaccination camp organised by the Nashik Municipal Corporation. Probe has been ordered after the family of Shravani Patil has said that she died "because of the vaccine". Maintaining that several others were given a shot from the same vial, the authorities have ordered an inquiry. A postmortem examination has been conducted, a
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Nigeria has recorded 65,759 suspected cases of diphtheria and 2,229 deaths since the outbreak began in 2022, underscoring the continued threat posed by the vaccine-preventable disease despite recent gains in containment efforts. The latest figures, released by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), come as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders, announced the conclusion of its three-year emergency response to the outbreak in Kano State, one of the country's hardest-hit states. According to MSF, Kano accounted for a significant share of the national burden, with the state Ministry of Health recording more than 31,900 suspected cases and over 1,260 deaths, most of them children, between March 2022 and 22 March 2026. To support efforts to ...
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Vaccination coverage in Romania remained below recommended levels in 2025, shows a report published on Wednesday by UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO). According to the released data, tens of thousands of children were not immunised against serious diseases such as measles, diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis. Despite vaccines in the National Immunisation Programme being offered free of charge, Romania continues to record insufficient coverage among children. UNICEF and WHO estimates for 2025 indicate that only 85% of children received the first dose of the diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine (DTP1), leaving around 27,000 children unvaccinated against these diseases, agerpres reports. For measles, the first dose of the MMR vaccine reached an estimated coverage of just 66%, meani...
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This event envelope contains reports on diphtheria in Haiti.
Source: BEACON - View Full Report
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View WHO Resources →Disease information on Virus Watcher is reviewed by our Chief Epidemiologist, a former CDC lead analyst for FluSight forecasting. Outbreak data is aggregated from verified sources including BEACON, ProMED, WHO, CDC, and 50+ national health agencies. This information is for educational purposes and should not replace professional medical advice.
Last reviewed: 2026-08-17
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