"The number of infections is worrying": a diphtheria epidemic hits Europe, France also affected
An old disease is back. Since 2022, "several European countries have observed an unusual spike in cases," according to a press release from the Pasteur Institute, following the publication of a study in the New England Journal of Medicine . Since then, several hundred cases have been recorded each year. The study's authors are concerned: "The large number of infections is worrying." It is even "the largest diphtheria epidemic in Western Europe in 70 years," according to the Pasteur Institute.
It's diphtheria. This "highly contagious" disease, according to Public Health France, manifests as tonsillitis and "can be complicated by cardiac or neurological damage and lead to death." It can be fatal in 30% of cases in people who are not vaccinated and who are not promptly treated. Young children are "at a higher risk of death," according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
While the majority of the population is vaccinated against diphtheria (the vaccine is mandatory for infants), it is vulnerable populations, particularly migrants and the homeless, who are affected by this epidemic. It "results from contamination occurring during migratory journeys or in European destination countries," specifies the Pasteur Institute.
In Europe, 362 cases were recorded in 2022, and 123 cases in 2023, including several dozen in France. The Ministry of Health has also indicated that "an increase in the number of diphtheria cases (imported cases) has been observed in France since 2022." More recent data are not available. The Pasteur Institute also notes that "the exact scale of the epidemic remains difficult to determine due to the limitations of screening among these vulnerable populations."
But the European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC) is reassuring: "The likelihood of developing the disease is very low for people living in the community, provided they have completed a full series of diphtheria vaccinations and are up to date. However, secondary cases and severe clinical cases of diphtheria are possible in unvaccinated or immunocompromised individuals."
This situation highlights the importance of vaccination across the entire population, and "shows the extent to which diphtheria represents a risk, particularly among migrants, the homeless, injecting drug users, unvaccinated people and the elderly with pre-existing conditions, as well as people with professional ties to these groups," Isabelle Parent du Chatelêt, head of Public Health France, said in the press release.
L'Internaute
