Diphtheria breaks out in Rohingya camps

The NGO Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has reporteda dramatic outbreak of diphtheria in Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh. Thus far, the humanitarian organization has treated 2,000 patients showing symptoms of the bacterial infection. The World Health Organization, meanwhile, has registered more than 3,000 recent cases, with more coming in.

"This outbreak of diphtheria hits the people in the camps at a time where they're already struggling with a measles epidemic and an overall emergency situation, which puts enormous strain on the health system," said Pavlos Kolovos, the country coordinator for MSF.

Bad hygenic and healthcare circumstances are aggravating the epidemic: Many people - particularly children - are not vaccinated. Refugees live in primitive shelters with little space and no safe water supply.

Since the 1980s authorities worldwide have managed to almost completely eradicate diphtheria by systematically vaccinating all young children with a combined vaccination against diphtheria, tetanus and polio, called DTP3.

However, in recent years, there have typically been several thousand cases per year in countries of Southeast Asia.

What is diphtheria and how is it being transmitted?

The disease comes from the Corynebacterium diphtheria - a germ discovered by doctors Edwin Klebs and Friedrich Loeffler in 1884. People transmit it by coughing, sneezing, kissing or through contact infection.

The bacteria generate a toxin that inhibits protein biosynthesis in cells - a vital mechanism that enables us to produce body proteins in the first place.

What are the symptoms?

The illness can be visually detected through a sticky gray-white mucus covering the throat and nose. Patients have a difficult time breathing. Infants develop bloody and pus-filled phlegm. The infection spreads to the larynx and lungs and triggers a cough. The lymph nodes also begin swelling.

Patients can also develop stomach ulcers or inflammations in the eye. The toxin generated by the bacteria will eventually find its way through the bloodstream into other organs, such as the kidneys, liver or heart. There, they can result in fatal organ failure.

How do doctors treat diphtheria?

Once the illness has broken out, doctors can administer a diphtheria antitoxin to neutralize the effect of the bacterial poison. But that will only show success if the infection gets diagnosed and treated early. Once the toxin is inside the bloodstream, it can circulate and remain there for a long time, damaging the organs.

Patients additionally receive penicillin, an antibiotic, to kill off the bacteria. And those who've cared for the patients will also receive the antibiotic as a preventive measure.

The most effective weapon against diphtheria, however, is childhood vaccination - of the entire population - with the DTP3 vaccine.