Diphtheria-like disease caused by toxigenic corynebacterium ulcerans strain

Sangal, Vartul and Nieminen, Leena and Weinhardt, Barbara and Raeside, Jane and Tucker, Nicholas P. and Florea, Catalina Diana and Pollock, Kevin G. and Hoskisson, Paul A. (2014) Diphtheria-like disease caused by toxigenic corynebacterium ulcerans strain. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 20 (7). pp. 1257-1258. ISSN 1080-6040 (https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2007.140216)

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Abstract

Toxigenic Corynebacterium ulcerans is an increasingly reported cause of diphtheria in the United Kingdom and is often associated with a zoonotic origin (1,2). Here, we report a case of diphtheria caused by toxigenic C. ulcerans in a woman, 51 years of age, from Scotland, UK, who was admitted to a hospital in August 2013 with a swollen, sore throat and a gray-white membrane over the pharyngeal surface. The patient had returned from a 2-week family holiday in the state of Florida, United States, before the admission and also reported recent treatment of a pet dog for pharyngitis. The patient was believed to have been vaccinated against diphtheria during childhood. She was immediately admitted to an isolation ward and treated with a combination of clindamycin, penicillin, and metronidazole.