Diphtheria– The Virus and It’s Effect

“Diphtheria causes a thick covering in the back of the throat. It can lead to difficulty breathing, heart failure, paralysis, and even death.” – CDC, 2013

“Diphtheria is spread (transmitted) from person to person, usually through respiratory droplets, like coughing or sneezing.” – CDC, 2013

Annual U.S. Reported Cases for Diphtheria

“…only 6 cases were reported in the United States between 2000 and 2003.” – NY Times, 2012

“Between 2004 and 2008, no cases of diphtheria were recorded in the U.S.” – CDC, 2014

Annual U.S. Mortality Rate for Diphtheria

Less than 1 death per year – CDC, 2008

“The overall case-fatality rate for diphtheria is 5%–10%.” – CDC, 2014

DTP & DTaP Vaccines (Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis)

“Focusing on very narrow time intervals following immunization, we found the SIDS mortality rate in the period zero to three days following DTP to be 7.3 times that in the period beginning 30 days after immunization (95 per cent confidence interval, 1.7 to 31).” – American Journal of Public Health, 1987

“Of these 53 (SIDS), 27 had received a DTP immunization within 28 days of death. Six SIDS deaths occurred within 24 hours and 17 occurred within 1 week of DTP immunization…These data suggest a temporal association between DTP immunization, physician visits without DTP immunization and SIDS.” Pediatric Infectious Disease, 1983

For more info on the many dangers of the DTP (Diphtheria, Tetanus, & Pertussis (whooping cough)) and DTaP vaccines, please visit the Whooping Cough (Pertussis) and The Vaccine (DTaP/DTP) page.