Diphtheria - Annual Epidemiological Report for 2017

Surveillance report
Publication series: Annual Epidemiological Report
Time period covered: This report is based on data for 2017 retrieved from The European Surveillance System (TESSy) on 31 January 2019.
Cite:

European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Diphtheria. In: ECDC. Annual epidemiological report for
2017. Stockholm: ECDC; 2019.

For 2017, 39 cases of diphtheria due to toxigenic Corynebacterium diphtheriae or C. ulcerans were reported to ECDC. The highest proportion of C. ulcerans cases was among adults 45 years of age and above, whereas C. diphtheriae cases were more common in younger age groups. Among C. diphtheriae cases, 50% were reported as imported. High vaccination coverage is crucial to prevent diphtheria.

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