Home » Science & Nature » Microbiology » An Old Plague Coming Back to Haunt Us.: Diphtheria: What is that

An Old Plague Coming Back to Haunt Us.: Diphtheria: What is that

© Neal Rolfe Chamberlain

they won't get the disease called smallpox. This is because the immune systems of vaccinated people totally eliminate the smallpox virus before it can cause much damage.

Corynebacterium diphtheriae is a bacterium that can live for long periods of time in vaccinated people's throats without causing any illness. The diphteria vaccine does not help our immune system eliminate the bacteria from our throat but rather, it causes our immune system to make antibodies to the diphtheria toxin. These anti-toxin antibodies prevent the toxin from killing our cells. No cell death, no illness. Therefore, when you stop vaccinating for diphtheria unvaccinated people start getting the bacteria from the vaccinated carriers of Coyrnebacterium diphtheriae and the disease rears it's ugly head again.

So what is the bottom line then, Neal? GET YOUR CHILDREN VACCINATED and vaccinate them when your doctor says to have them vaccinated. Remember -- "an once of prevention is worth a pound of cure" or "a stitch in time saves nine." To get more information on this disease and when to get your children vaccinated see The Centers for Disease Control.

For more information: CDC description of the Soviet diphtheria epidemic.

Another CDC article with graphs showing how the number of cases of diphtheria in Russia through 1998.

Take Care and Think Microbiologically! For more microbiology articles go to Suite101:Microbiology.