A case of diphtheria in Sweden, October 2011

H Fredlund; T Norén; T Lepp; E Morfeldt; B Henriques Normark

doi:10.2807/ese.16.50.20038-en

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A case of diphtheria in Sweden, October 2011
H Fredlund¹ , T Norén¹ , T Lepp² , E Morfeldt² , B Henriques Normark²
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Affiliations: ¹ Örebro University Hospital, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Clinical Microbiology, Örebro, Sweden ² Swedish Institute for Communicable Disease Control (SMI), Solna, Sweden

Correspondence:
H Fredlund
hans.fredlund orebroll.se
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Citation style for this article: Fredlund H, Norén T, Lepp T, Morfeldt E, Henriques Normark B. A case of diphtheria in Sweden, October 2011. Euro Surveill. 2011;16(50):pii=20038. https://doi.org/10.2807/ese.16.50.20038-en Received: 25 Nov 2011

Abstract

In October 2011, a child who had arrived in Sweden from Somalia presented with atypical tonsillitis, was treated with penicillin and the symptoms resolved. A throat swab was positive for toxigenic Corynebacterium diphtheriae. The child's family were then vaccinated with diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccine and screened for C. diphtheriae. No secondary cases were found. A high level of adherence to childhood vaccination programmes is an effective way to protect populations against diphtheria. .