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Vaccination against diphtheria

Question
Does my grand-daughter (CF, nearly 5 years old) have still to be vaccinated also against diphtheria in the frame of the general protective vaccinations? I have read that the illness does nearly not exist anymore.
Answer
Dear questioner,
your question about further vaccinations against diphtheria in case of your nearly 5-year-old grand-daughter with CF is very justified.
Diphtheria is an infectious disease caused by bacteria. The poison produced by those germs is feared, and can lead to lethal complications.

Thanks to high vaccinations rates, the cases of diphtheria in Germany have become indeed very rare, at the moment there are only every few years single cases.

In spite of this, the vaccination is recommended urgently, as diphtheria is still common in other countries and therefore can be brought again to Germany at any time. Only as long as a sufficiently large part of the population is vaccinated, eruptions are inhibited.

The immune system does remeber for many years, what it has learned by the vaccination. However by the years, the antibodies circulating in the blood diminish. In order that the body can react quickly enough in case of infection, the immune system needs empirically an reminder every 10 years, therefore regular booster vaccinations are recommended.

The illness of diphtheria cannot occur due to the vaccination, as the vaccination contains the poison of the bacterium rendered harmeless, and the immune system is supposed to become active against this poison.
Even a undergone diphtheria does not protect of a new infection. Therefore, the vaccination should even also be done in case a person has already undergone a diphtheria once.

The recommendation to vaccinate against diphtheria is therefore valid worldwide. A higher risk is present in the tropics, in southern and eastern Europe, as well as in the CIS-countries (former soviet union states). An initial immunization should already take place in babyhood, namely according to the following scheme: from the beginning of the 3rd month of life on, 3 times with a 6- respectively 8-week time interval inbetween (dependent on the vaccination combination). Then the 4th vaccination is done in the time interval from the 12th to the 15th month of life. Booster vaccinations are recommended from the 6th year of life on and between the 10th and 18th year of life. At adult age a booster vaccination should be done every 10 years, the best in combination with tetanus and polio vaccination. Side effects are very rare and bear no relation to the benefit of the vaccination.

I hope to have answered your questions on the vaccination of your grand-daughter.

Many greetings,
Dr. Ernst Rietschel
19.06.2013