Diphtheria symptoms are usually a sore throat and fever, but they can also include swelling of the neck or vocal cords and enlarged lymph glands in the throat. The disease can also cause skin infections that look like eczema, psoriasis or impetigo.
Symptoms typically start two to five days after exposure, and may go away on their own. However, it is important to seek medical care if you suspect you have diphtheria.
It is highly contagious and can be spread by coughing or sneezing into the air. You can also catch it if you have close contact with someone who has the infection or is ill, such as when you are in a hospital or clinic.
The first symptom of diphtheria is the thick, gray coating (pseudomembrane) that forms in your throat and nasal mucous membranes. This coating makes it difficult for you to breathe or swallow and can lead to serious complications.
Other signs and symptoms of diphtheria can include enlarged lymph glands in the neck, fever, headache, rash, swollen lymph nodes or a lump on your breastbone. It can also affect your eyes and ears, especially if you have a chest infection.
Your doctor will use a swab to take a sample from your throat or from a sore and send it to a lab for testing. The results of the test will help your doctor decide if you have diphtheria.
If your doctor thinks you have diphtheria, they will give you antibiotics to treat the bacteria. They may also give you a vaccine to prevent the infection.
This will protect you from getting it again and can also help your doctor diagnose the condition better. They will need to get your family members vaccinated too, so they can be protected from this illness as well.
Treatment of diphtheria involves the use of an antitoxin that neutralizes the diphtheria toxin already in your body and antibiotics to kill the remaining bacteria. Your doctor will make sure you get the correct dose of the antitoxin and antibiotics, which can take a few weeks to work.
The doctor will then keep you in isolation so others don’t get sick. They will also check to make sure you don’t have any other health problems that might make you more likely to get infected.
It is a very serious infection that can be life-threatening. People can develop heart problems, such as inflammation of the heart muscle (myocarditis), or they might die from other causes, including lung failure from a blocked airway or septic shock caused by infection with fungi or bacteria.
Your doctor might need to put you on a ventilator or other equipment to help your breathing and keep you alive. You might be confined to a bed or room until you are no longer contagious, which can be 48 hours after you get the antibiotics.
The doctor might also give you a special vaccine called a booster jab to prevent diphtheria in the future. You might need to get a second jab if you are planning to travel to an area where this infection is still a risk.
