Diphtheria antitoxin (DAT) has been the cornerstone of the treatment of Corynebacterium diphtheriae infection for more than 100 years. Although the global incidence of diphtheria has declined steadily over the last quarter of the 20th century, the disease remains endemic in many parts of the world, and significant outbreaks still occur. DAT is an equine polyclonal antibody that is not commercia...

The pediatric formulations usually have 3-5 times as much of the diphtheria component than what is in the adult/ adolescent formulation. Similarly, the formulations for adults/adolescents have around one third of acellular pertussis content than pediatric formulations. The amount of tetanus toxoid in each of the products remains almost equivalent. Dose reduction for diphtheria and pertussis is ...

Extrapharyngeal infections caused by Corynebacterium ulcerans have rarely been reported previously, and diphtheria toxin production has usually not been addressed. This case demonstrates that strains of C. ulcerans that produce diphtheria toxin can cause infections of the skin that completely mimic typical cutaneous diphtheria, thereby potentially providing a source of bacteria capable of causi...

In a prospective, controlled, randomized, multicenter study the immunogenicity and tolerance of a single vaccination (day 0) and two (day 0, 28) booster vaccinations against diphtheria were compared in subjects who had received their last diphtheria vaccination more than 10 years ago. 415 subjects received the first booster vaccination, and 203 were vaccinated twice. The geometric mean diphther...

In Japan, mass vaccination for diphtheria, pertussis, and/or tetanus has been mandated by the Vaccination Law since 1948. In order to evaluate the efficacy of this vaccination policy, we conducted seroepidemiological studies on pertussis, diphtheria, and tetanus among individuals aged 0 - 80 years. The pertussis toxin seropositive rates of the vaccine-eligible groups and vaccine-ineligible grou...

Despite the introduction of mass immunization, diphtheria continues to play a major role as a potentially lethal infectious disease in many countries. Delay in the specific therapy of diphtheria may result in death and, therefore, accurate diagnosis of diphtheria is imperative. This study was carried out at National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Delhi, India, on samples of suspected diphth...

Tetanus and diphtheria (Td) antibodies were studied in HIV-1-infected women during puerperium. HIV group (n=61) was compared with Control group (n=101). Twenty-one women from HIV and 13 from Control group who had antibody levels lower than 0.1 IU/mL received a booster with Td vaccine. Antibodies were assessed by double antigen ELISA. Mean tetanus and diphtheria antibody levels from HIV group we...