A single case of diphtheria has been reported in the city, in a 21-year-old college student, a native of Maayam, Kattakkada, but who is currently residing in a city hostel.
The case of adult diphtheria has taken the Health Department by surprise, which is now faced with the arduous task of tracing all contacts, who have to be administered prophylaxis drugs and vaccination as a precautionary measure, as diphtheria is highly contagious and spreads through respiratory droplets and contact.
The patient had gone home on January 17 but had reported at the Casualty wing of Medical College hospital on January 21 with fever, cough and the ‘feeling of some foreign body in the throat.’ She was referred to the ENT Department where throat swab samples confirmed the diagnosis of diphtheria.
She is currently being treated with antibiotics at MCH. Health officials said that they have sought diphtheria antitoxin from Malappuram, as the bacterial strain Corynebacterium diphtheriae is toxigenic and can cause serious complications later.
Fully immunised
“The girl says that she is fully immunised but we have no means of confirming that. Immunity can also wane over time. An asymptomatic carrier state can exist even among immune individuals and we have to now investigate if her room mates (who are from the northern districts) could be asymptomatic carriers,” a senior Health official said.
The important thing now is to trace all contacts, which is proving to be a tough task as she’s a college-going student staying in a hostel and she had gone on a home visit too.
All the contacts would have to be given Erythromycin for 10 days and TD vaccine as prophylaxis, given the ease with which the organism can spread
Shortage of vaccine
There is a shortage of TD vaccine and erythromycin in the district and the Health Department is now scrambling to get together the drugs from other districts.
“Some 40 doses of TD vaccine has now been administered on a priority basis to all the doctors and health workers at MCH who treated her. We are in the process of procuring more,” the official said.
The help of Community Medicine Department at MCH has been sought in launching an epidemiological investigation.