Sign In
Learn bits
Health & Medicine
Pradeep Kumar

04/04/21 09:00 AM IST

Trends in diphtheria incidence

In news

Researchers from India, the U.K. and Russia have analysed a large collection of 502 genomes sourced from over 16 countries and collected from over a period of 122 years of the bacterium that causes diphtheria.

Diphtheria
  • It usually begins with angina (a type of chest pain) and tonsilitis symptoms, sore throat and mild fever.
  • The diphtheria toxin causes inflammation of heart muscle (myocarditis) and this can lead to death if not treated with diptheria antitoxin and proper antibiotics.
  • Formation of white-grey pseudomembrane over parts of the throat (pharynx) , voice box (larynx) and tonsils and swollen bull neck are considered stereotypical, although they may not show up in some cases.
Prevention

Diphtheria is a vaccine preventable disease – the toxoid vaccine elicits an immune response against the toxin which is encoded by a tox gene of the pathogen. Sometimes, spurts of diphtheria outbreaks occur in unvaccinated or partially vaccinated communities.

Genetic spread
  • In order to map out the genetic spread of the organism, the group has done a phylogenetic analysis that basically gives a picture of the family tree of the species.
  • These antimicrobial resistance genes might have been transferred by the mobile genetic elements from other bacteria.
Source: The Hindu

More Related Current Affairs View All

14 Aug

ABC of Sterilisation

'The Supreme Court has directed Delhi, Noida, Gurgaon, and Ghaziabad authorities to urgently round up and shift stray dogs to shelters, stressing the need to protect children from

Read More

14 Aug

Post and pre-matric scholarships

'The  Union government is considering revising the parental income limit for eligibility in availing post and pre-matric scholarships administered to students from marginalise

Read More

13 Aug

Working of satellite internet

'Satellite internet is revolutionizing how we connect, extending high-speed access to virtually every corner of the globe, regardless of location.' Imagine getting online from t

Read More

India’s First Ai-Driven Magazine Generator

Generate Your Custom Current Affairs Magazine using our AI in just 3 steps