Abstract

Background: Diphtheria is a contagious bacterial infection caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae with a fatality rate of 5 - 10%. In 2020, there were about 1991 cases and 28 deaths due to diphtheria in India. Sore throats, fever, swollen glands, thick gray colored pseudo membrane over the throat are the common clinical features of Diphtheria. Environmental factors like overcrowded houses and poor socio-economic conditions lead to higher transmission of disease. Objective: To assess the clinical and laboratory profile of patients admitted in infectious disease hospital with symptoms of diphtheria. Materials and Methods: A Hospital record based cross sectional study, was carried out at an infectious disease hospital which is a tertiary care center in Hyderabad, Telangana from November 2014 to October 2015.A total of 1140 patients admitted with the symptoms and signs of Diphtheria during the period 2006 - 2010 were taken. Results: Female preponderance was noted (60.53%) and majority (24.44%) of cases were in the age group of 6 -10 years. The most common presentation was sore throat (62%), fever (60%), cough (46.3%) and dysphagia (40%). Around 2.11% patients reported myocarditis and 37.89% had positive throat swab for Klebsiella Loeffler’s Bacilli. Anti-diphtheritic serum was administered to 12.8% of patients.

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