Diphtheria: The Patch Still Remains–A Case Report From the State of Uttarakhand

Diphtheria is a potentially fatal acute infectious disease caused by toxigenic strains of Corynebacterium diphtheriae. It is rare in most developed countries due to routine childhood vaccination. Although Universal Immunization Programme is fully functional in India, several hospital-based surveillance studies over the recent years indicate that cases of this infection do occur among school-going children and adolescents. Poor immunization coverage, failure to take booster doses, and absence of data regarding coverage of booster doses of Diphtheria, Pertussis, and Tetanus vaccine are some of the factors responsible for persistence or possible reemergence of this infection in our country. There are no published reports of diphtheria from the state of Uttarakhand, India, in the recent years. We hereby report a confirmed case of diphtheria from this region.