diphtheria
Acute infectious disease in which a membrane forms in the throat (threatening death by asphyxia), along with the production of a powerful toxin that damages the heart and nerves. The organism responsible is a bacterium (Corynebacterium diphtheriae). It is treated with antitoxin and antibiotics.
Although its incidence has been reduced greatly by immunization, an epidemic in the former USSR resulted in 47,802 cases and 1,746 deaths in 1994, and 1,500 deaths in 1995. The epidemic abated in 1996. From 1997 to 2003, World Health Organization (WHO) statistics showed global case numbers to be fluctuating around 10,000 per year.
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