12 Important Facts Concerning Diphtheria

1.Diphtheria is a highly contagious disease that can easily be transmitted from person to person.

2.The act of transmission occurs when an infected person releases a sneeze, cough, or laugh and a susceptible individual breathes in the saliva or mucus droplets from the air.

3.Diphtheria can also be spread by cups and tissues that have previously been used by people infected with the disease. 

4.Diphtheria was first discovered in 1826 by French physician Pierre-Fidele Bretonneau.

5.The cause of the disease Bacillus corynebactrium diptheriae, however was not found until 1888.
6.The incubation period, the time between when the person receives the disease and when symptoms began to show for Diphtheria is one to seven days.

7.Symptoms of Diphtheria can be as mild as; a sore throat, runny nose, and fever. 

8.Diptheria symptoms can also be as severe as; cutaneous skin lesions, myocradias polyneuritis, airway obstruction, and a thick membrane formage on the throat, larynx, or nose, and even death.

9.The disease is quite common is such areas that are over populated and unsanitary such as; Africa, Asia, South America.

10.One out of ten people who acquires diphtheria will die. 

11. More than five thousand lives are still lost each year as a result of Diphtheria.

12.The Diphtheria vaccine or DPT has majorly reduced the death rate along with the fatality rate of the disease.