Diphtheria

Statutory notification

• Diphtheria is a notifiable infectious disease in Western Australia.
• Alert: Cases must be reported urgently by telephone to the local public health unit within a few hours of first suspicion of diagnosis.
• Case definition: See Diphtheria (external site) national surveillance case definition.
• Notifications: Notify using the online (external site) infectious diseases notification form (see Frequently Asked Questions for guidance).
• See also description of statutory medical notifications in Western Australia.

Public health summary

• Infectious agent: Toxigenic strains of Corynebacterium diphtheriae and Corynebacterium ulcerans.
• Transmission: Usually person-to-person spread by airborne droplets released when an infected person coughs or sneezes. It can also spread through direct contact with skin lesions or soiled articles.
• Incubation period: Usually 2 to 5 days (range 1 to 10 days).
• Infectious period: From shortly before symptoms start until virulent bacteria are cleared from the nose, throat or skin lesions, usually after appropriate antibiotics. Without treatment, this can last up to 4 weeks.
• Case exclusion: Excluded until non-infectious.
• Contact exclusion: Contact management will be coordinated by public health unit staff.
• Treatment: Antibiotics and antitoxin treatment as recommended by a medical practitioner.
• Immunisation: Children and adolescents should be vaccinated according to the Western Australian Immunisation Schedule. Adults aged 50 years and over should receive a booster if they have not had one in the previous 10 years. See Australian Immunisation Handbook – Diphtheria (external site).
  In response to the diphtheria outbreak in regional Western Australia, state-funded diphtheria vaccines are now available for more people – see Diphtheria alert for regional Western Australia for further information.
• Case follow-up: Conducted by local public health units and the Communicable Disease Control Directorate.

Guidelines for public health units

• See “Information for health professionals” section of Diphtheria alert for regional Western Australia for outbreak-specific resources
• Western Australian Immunisation Schedule
• Australian Immunisation Handbook – Diphtheria (external site)
• Protocol for accessing immunoglobulin blood products for public health indications in WA (PDF 470KB) 

Notifiable disease data and reports

• Notifiable infectious disease dashboard
• General infectious disease reports