Symptoms of diphtheria.

Diphtheria is one of the bacterial infections, which is characterized by both general toxicity and a local fibrinous-inflammatory reaction. In general, diphtheria is a child's disease, that is, about 96% of all cases of registered disease - diphtheria in children. In adults, diphtheria manifests itself in a more severe form than in children. In this regard, the symptoms of diphtheria in adults are somewhat more pronounced.

The causes of diphtheria are reduced solely to the effect on the human body of the causative agent - the corynebacteria of diphtheria (its toxigenic strain). The path of transmission of the pathogen is airborne.

Classify the diphtheria at the location of the entrance gate infection. Symptoms of diphtheria (if we talk about local) depend on what form of the disease in this or that patient. Diphtheria of the oropharynx, nose and respiratory tracts are distinguished. In addition, a whole complex of rare localizations of diphtheria is isolated into a separate group. This includes diphtheria of wound surfaces, skin and external genital organs.

The manifestation (symptoms of diphtheria) is directly proportional to the amount of toxin secreted by the bacterium. The danger of diphtheria is precisely that the toxin affects the vital organs (heart, kidneys, nervous system).

To start the disease is characterized by an increase in body temperature and the appearance of discharge on the surface of the mucosa (at the site of infection). In the subsequent allocation become a kind of plaque and cause the formation of fibrous films. The latter consist of fibrin fibers and directly the pathogen itself. Fibrinous films usually white or grayish color, tightly welded to the tissues below them.

The danger of diphtheria films is that increasing their size can lead to difficulty breathing until asphyxia. Over time, there is an increase in the number of pathogens, resulting in a large amount of toxin entering the bloodstream. Diphtheria toxin causes common symptoms of diphtheria.

The degree of diphtheria severity largely depends on the location of the pathological process, the number of pathogens and features of this strain of the corynebacterium. So the most severe symptoms of diphtheria are observed with a common and toxic (hypertoxic) form.

The common form is manifested by the expressed general symptoms of intoxication (febrile temperature, lethargy, weakness, pale skin color and dryness of the oral mucosa). In addition, for a common form of diphtheria are characterized by: acute tonsillitis, edema and hyperemia of the tonsils, sore throat, as well as an increase in the nearest lymph nodes to three centimeters (there may be a slight soreness of the lymph nodes during palpation). This form of the disease lasts from seven to ten days (at best) to two to three weeks (at worst).

The most severe and dangerous is the hypertoxic form of diphtheria. Since the onset of the disease, convulsions occur, after a few hours the patient's pressure drops, the skin turns pale and becomes cold. A lethal outcome is observed one to three days after the onset of the pathological process.

The danger of all forms of diphtheria is the development of severe complications, such as a violation of cardiac activity, the development of diphtheria myocarditis, as well as the defeat of the nervous system and paralysis of the muscles involved in the act of breathing.

The developed system of vaccinations against diphtheria has established itself at a high level. As a result, in our country, as in many other countries of the world, DTP is included in the preventive vaccination schedule (where the abbreviation "D" indicates the presence of diphtheria toxoid in the vaccine). As a result of vaccination, diphtheria is currently a vaccine-preventable infection.