An unvaccinated six -year -old was hospitalized with diphtheria. Fortunately, the doctor remembered what the children died in the middle of the 20th century

Six -year -old parents were very lucky, because they immediately found the right doctor. One who remembered what children died in the middle of the previous century.

– For an old doctor who, somewhere in the recesses of his consciousness, remembered such a disease. The case seemed suspicious to him and immediately sent a child to consult infections – says Paweł Wróblewski, director of the Poviat Sanitary and Epidemiological Station in Wrocław.

The boy was forfected with diphtheria bacteria during his stay with his parents on vacation in Africa. He was not vaccinated, although the diaphragm vaccination is mandatory in children.

– We are in a situation that would not have been at all if people followed the law in Poland. The patient lies on intensive care, i.e. he is in very serious condition. Fortunately, the child received serum, was kept in the government reserves agency and could be given to him – informs prof. Leszek Szenborn, head of the Department and Clinic of Pediatrics and Infectious Diseases of the Medical University in Wrocław.

Read also: A six -year -old child infected with diphtheria is in a serious condition

The Chief Sanitary Inspectorate informed EU institutions responsible for public health, because every case of diploma appearance in the European Union, which is considered free of this disease, is treated very seriously.

Epidemiological investigation is being conducted. – There can be many of these people exposed to potentially – warns Dr. Paweł Grzesiowski, chief sanitary inspector. – Our task is to determine a list of people who have the risk of infection because they stayed in close proximity for several hours – he adds.

Diphouses, also called diphtheria, krup or radiator, cause toxins secreted by diphtheria clubs. The infection spreads by droplet. The first symptoms include temperature, sore throat, difficulty swallowing, loss of appetite, and after a few days deadly membranes appear.

– These membranes are lining the mouth, throat, can lead to the overgrown of the larynx entrance and the patient may die by suffocation – says Monika Pazgan -Simon, a specialist in the infectious diseases of the Provincial Specialist Hospital Jerzy Gromkowski.

Myocarditis, necrosis of the kidney coils and neurological complications, such as the paralysis of the limbs and facial muscles, can also get infected.

The greatest mortality is caused in children under the age of five and adults over 40, because even if they were vaccinated, they lose antibodies with age.

Even every fifth infected dies. Therefore, the more exotic the journey, the more indications for vaccination. Adults resembling not only for diphtheria, but also to tetanus and pursuit, should take every 10 years. On the abdominal dur every three or five.