{"id":20555,"date":"2026-04-25T12:17:33","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T06:47:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=20555"},"modified":"2026-04-25T13:25:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T07:55:10","slug":"diphtheria-upsc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/diphtheria-upsc\/","title":{"rendered":"Diphtheria"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>Diphtheria Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After decades of being largely under control, diphtheria \u2014 a serious but vaccine-preventable disease \u2014 is making an unexpected return in parts of Australia.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>About Diphtheria<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is a <\/span><b>highly contagious bacterial infection<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that can <\/span><b>attack <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the <\/span><b>upper respiratory tract <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and <\/span><b>less often the skin<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is caused by <\/span><b>strains of bacteria <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">called <\/span><b>Corynebacterium diphtheriae <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">that <\/span><b>make a toxin.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The bacterium usually <\/span><b>multiplies on or near<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> the <\/span><b>surface of the throat or skin.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are <\/span><b>two main types <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">of diphtheria:<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Classical respiratory diphtheria<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: It may <\/span><b>affect <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">your<\/span><b> nose, throat, tonsils, or larynx <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(voice box). It\u2019s the<\/span><b> most common type.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Skin (cutaneous) diphtheria<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: It causes a <\/span><b>skin rash, sores, or blisters.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> They can <\/span><b>appear anywhere<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> on your body. Cutaneous diphtheria is <\/span><b>more common in tropical climates<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><b>Overall, it\u2019s rare.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Diphtheria <\/b><b>Transmission<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It can spread <\/span><b>from person to person<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, usually through <\/span><b>respiratory droplets<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, like from coughing or sneezing.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">People can also get sick from <\/span><b>touching infected open sores or ulcers in case of cutaneous diphtheria.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Some people may not develop disease manifestations <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">but can <\/span><b>still transmit <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the bacteria to others.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Diphtheria <\/b><b>Symptoms<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Symptoms of <\/span><b>respiratory diphtheria<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> can include:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Throat pain<\/b><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Weakness or fatigue<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mild fever<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Swollen lymph nodes in your neck<\/b><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A <\/span><b>thick, greyish coating on the back of your throat<\/b><\/li>\n<li><b>Problems breathing and\/or swallowing<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Symptoms of <\/span><b>skin diphtheria<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> can include:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Painful <\/span><b>open sore or ulcer<\/b><\/li>\n<li><b>Rash with scales<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> or <\/span><b>peeling skin<\/b><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Swelling and discoloration near the sore or rash<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Diphtheria can lead to <\/span><b>complications<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, like:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Airway blockage<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which can cause suffocation<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Heart muscle damage <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and <\/span><b>heart failure<\/b><\/li>\n<li><b>Nerve damage<\/b><\/li>\n<li><b>Kidney failure<\/b><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These complications<\/span><b> can result in death.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Diphtheria <\/b><b>Treatment<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Neutralization of unbound toxin <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">with Diphtheria Antitoxin (DAT).<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Antibiotics <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">to prevent further bacterial growth;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Monitoring and supportive care to prevent and treat complications, e.g. airway obstruction, myocarditis.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Although <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">diphtheria can be <\/span><b>treated with medications<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">,<\/span><b> in advanced stages<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the bacterial<\/span><b> infection can damage the heart, kidneys and nervous system.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is a <\/span><b>vaccine-preventable disease,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> but multiple doses and booster doses are needed to produce and sustain immunity.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>For unvaccinated individuals, without proper treatment<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, diphtheria can be f<\/span><b>atal in around 30% of cases<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, with <\/span><b>young children at higher risk<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of dying. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Source<\/b><strong>:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/lifestyle\/health\/diphtheria-outbreak-australia-india-resurgence-symptoms-td-vaccine-booster-10653234\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>IE<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Diphtheria is a highly contagious bacterial infection that can attack the upper respiratory tract and less often the skin. Read more about Diphtheria, Meaning, Symptoms, Transmission, Latest News.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":49504,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[732],"class_list":{"0":"post-20555","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-prelims-current-affairs","8":"tag-diphtheria","9":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20555"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20555\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":100214,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20555\/revisions\/100214"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}